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A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....07-29-03...Quilts, Men, America and Such
Billie; FreeTheHostages | FreeTheHostages

Posted on 07/29/2003 5:58:57 AM PDT by Billie



A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day
Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.
A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.
On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY
If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.
We're having fun and hope you are!

~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine ~




by FreeTheHostages
design by Billie


A quilt by one of the greatest living quilters, Michael James.


Guys quilting? Who's in control here??

Don't worry, it's still the women. Whether it's a traditional floral beauty, a lovely Baltimore album quilt, a positively painterly quilt, a breathtaking applique quilt , or a more modern quilt , quilting is still mostly women's work.
Michael James has got it right though: he's struck by how democratic and down-to-earth quilters are. Everyone has a story about their special quilt, and quits, for everyone, touch them some place deep. It's a positively American art form. And it's an art form that always pays homage to history and tradition, even in some of it's great modern and dramatic forms by modern quiltmakers such as Katie Pasquini-Masopust.
Lots of conservative women attend quilt shows! I saw lots of Republican bumperstickers at the 2003 Vermont Quilt Festival. But not many men of either the Republican or Democrat variety there. {Sigh} I tried to persuade one male Freeper who I know lives in Vermont to attend this festival, and I got a private Freepmail saying: “If you ever see me at a quilt festival, just shoot me.”
What is it with men and quilting? LOL – apparently not much. Well, for what it's worth guys, you are the subject of the first of four facts I do present in this post regarding quilting:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


1) Quilters Love Men – Especially Diver Dave


Blue Ribbon for the Best Landscape, 2003 Vermont Quilt Festival

Quilters love men. Men have been there for us – hanging quilts, driving us to the fabric store, paying our fabric bills, ignoring the occasional pin in the carpet – but most of all, pretending to understand us.
Isn’t it cute? The way he lovingly drives you to the weekend quilting bee, unaware that you and your girlfriends are spending the weekend plotting how to run the town while letting the men think they are in charge? The way he pretends to admire your latest quilt – without comprehending that the quilt explores female despair at having to live with a man who does not understand a thing about quilting?
It's just as well the guys don't know the details of quilting. Then we can explain that we can't clean the house just now because we are "exhausted" from quilting.
GailA with her 'helper', Rocky, relaxing after an exhausting day of quilting


Who is YOUR FReeper Quilt Guy? Is it DIVER DAVE?

If you quilt, you know a man who suffers for your quilting. Here I accept nominations for Free Republic Quilt Guy of the Year. Who's your Freeper Quilt Guy? Tell me the story of how your man has suffered for your quilting. What does your quilt guy do for you? Does he babysit the kids while you’re off at some wild quilting sleep-over slumber party? Does he not complain that there are some pins hidden in the carpet? Or is it just so cute the way he pretends to care what your latest quilt looks like, hiding his boredom?
P.S. I will be giving another copy of Ann Coulter’s book Treason to the best nomination, but I should warn you all that Diver Dave will probably win, even if his wife doesn’t quilt, because he’s always coming in second or third in my contests, and I just think it’s time he won something. And thank you for playing. With that, on behalf of the hostesses, this half-hostess (for increasingly obvious reasons) thought I'd put to rest once and for all these rumors that my contest threads are fixed. :)

(With thanks to GailA for her quilted animals!)


In the pioneer days, quilting was seen as creative and useful, so the men wouldn't stop the women from doing it. The women were able to create a work of art without it being though of as frivolous. It was a way of fulfilling a creative impulse in an acceptable way. The trade-off, though, was that, until recently, quilting was not seen as an art form, so men were hesitant to get involved. Hmm, what’s so wrong with that? Let the guys play golf with each other at Augusta National – I’ll be quilting that weekend with the girls!
Men: You can't live without them, but you can quilt without them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


2) Quilting is Conservative
It’s such an American – and a conservative – thing to do. The very idea of quilts is conservative – to save and use those scraps of cloth, not to waste a thing. One of my favorite quilts at the Vermont Quilt Festival this year is a quilt made out of all different little scraps which has for its title, simply, "Used ‘em!”
Quilting is respecting history and remembering, things conservatives are good at. Here’s a link to quilts that remember the victims of 9/11. Never forget. Panels from this quilt project travel around the country.
Especially after 9/11, there have been many more patriotic quilts and, temporarily, a shortage on stars and stripes and patriotic fabric in the quilting shot. We Republican women were not caught short: we already had been favoring the red, white, and blue. Right, GailA?

A very traditional "flying geese" border design.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


3) Everyone Should Quilt
WHAT?! YOU SAY YOU DON’T QUILT??!!! Oh my goodness, don’t talk such nonsense!!! Apart from burdening and annoying your man, there are 1,000 other reasons to quilt, girls.
First and foremost, wouldn't you want to OWN something lovely like this quilt by GailA?



Or how about this beautiful quilt done by RJayneJ?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


4) Quilting Is American
And, finally, the long pedantic part of this feature. JUST STOP READING IF THIS IS ALREADY TOO LONG, OK? Hee hee, no one's putting a gun to your head, people!
Quilting became a conservation between various immigrant groups to America. Various European quilting traditions mix in American quilting history with native American textile and bead work.
The term “African American” is a very appropriate description of the weave/strip tradition of American quilting. While the textile traditions of African peoples are less thoroughly documented than other aspects of folk art, it is known that there were distinct, prominent influences of four civilizations in Central and West Africa: the Mande-speaking peoples, the Yoruba and Fon people; the Ejagham peoples, and the Kongo peoples. As slaves and their textiles were traded heavily throughout the Caribbean, Central America, and the Southern United States, the traditions of these four distinct regions became intermixed. Thus by the time that early African American quilting became a tradition in and of itself, it was already a combination of textile traditions.
Originally in Africa most of the textiles were made by men. Yet when slaves were brought to the United States their work was divided according to work roles, female slaves often ended up quilting. Female slaves doing domestic chores made some of the first African American quilts. There's some modern scholarship suggesting that some of these seamstresses documented paths to freedom on the underground railroad by quilting maps onto their masters' quilts!
Seminole Indian strip quilting is my favorite. If you've never quilted and are thinking of getting started, this is a good first book:


So many traditions mixed in a lively brew the colonial textile work from European immigrants. And wa-laa – there you have it! America's quilt. And as every quiltmaker knows, if it seems to you that you have too many colors and too much chaos going on, just add another color to the stew! Quilts are all about the noisy chaos of America, a colorful, chaotic fabric of peoples bound to one God and one land.

Blue ribbon for most whimsical, 2003 Vermont Quilt Festival


People say quilting is a way of connecting the generations, through the age-old beautiful techniques of lovingly piecing lives together. Quilts are love. In pioneer days, many women lost their children when they were young, and buried them with an indigo and white "mourning quilt." Even though the grandmothers and great-aunts might not be around to teach and encourage a new generation of women, they have left their influence. Many women who quilt for a long time leave pieces "behind" in a store, planning to leave work for the next generation to pick up on when they transcend to the Church Triumphant. Younger female relatives can be comforted by these bounds that transcend time.
Vermont: that's where I learned to quilt. Kind of an extraneous, self-absorbed fact – the sort I specialized in – but frankly that's the best segue I can think of to introduce to you some of my favorite summer vacation photos from the 2003 Vermont Quilt Festival.



Happy Quilting, FReepers!






THIS WEEK'S THREADS

07-28-03 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping'
The guy's good, folks!
Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer




TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons
KEYWORDS: freepers; fun; military; patriotic; quilting; surprises; veterans
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To: Diver Dave
Howdy Louie. Thanks for your vote. :)

LOL!! You got it!

There will be a slight charge, of course. : )

121 posted on 07/29/2003 11:54:43 AM PDT by ST.LOUIE1
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To: ST.LOUIE1
The check's in the mail...
122 posted on 07/29/2003 11:56:47 AM PDT by Diver Dave
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To: Mama_Bear
Get over here quick, fuzzy!

I just heard on the grapevine.....we're all jumping into bed to test the quilts! LOL

123 posted on 07/29/2003 11:57:03 AM PDT by ST.LOUIE1
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To: FreeTheHostages; The Thin Man
ROTFLOL! Careful TTM, I think Free would like to cover you with a quilt and beat you with a stick! LOL
124 posted on 07/29/2003 11:57:06 AM PDT by Aquamarine
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To: ST.LOUIE1
((((WOLFIE)))) I've missed you! Here is a quilt for you.


125 posted on 07/29/2003 11:59:50 AM PDT by WVNan
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To: Diver Dave
"The secret was to know when to quit. :)"

LOL, maybe you could share that secret with a certain thin gentleman!

126 posted on 07/29/2003 12:01:13 PM PDT by FreeTheHostages
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To: GailA; FreeTheHostages
Gail, I'm so glad you like the way Freezie and I have presented it - you have so many beautiful works pictured here today.
127 posted on 07/29/2003 12:03:03 PM PDT by Billie
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To: Pippin
Bee have , Billie, LOL!

LOL! T Man wouldn't recognize me if I did. :)

128 posted on 07/29/2003 12:04:33 PM PDT by Billie
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To: Aquamarine
Have you thought about taking up quilting? ;)

No.

129 posted on 07/29/2003 12:06:40 PM PDT by The Thin Man
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To: Diver Dave
A thousand bucks for my vote is on the cheap side, but....you're my friend. : )
130 posted on 07/29/2003 12:10:03 PM PDT by ST.LOUIE1
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To: dansangel
((((((((Dansy))))))) Thank you, Sistah. I always knew I liked quilts and you might have read where I mentioned the background is one of my treasures (can't even use it on a bed anymore, because it's pretty fragile) - this was a fun one, and don't you like the hostess quilts! Remember last week when she mentioned making a hostess graphic, and asked about sizing, etc? She made the hostess collage and the quilt collage at the bottom of the thread!
131 posted on 07/29/2003 12:12:31 PM PDT by Billie
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To: Billie
lol ! Yep ! And you should have heard the 'RATS news conference from New Mexico. They were talkin' about how hard they worked 'day and night' during the first session and how the mean old Republicans are trying to mess around with the lines to hurt minorities, etc., etc. ! Sheesh !

And then one of the women thanked the media for 'getting the truth out' about everything. (Psst ! Keep on lyin' for us, ok?! Thanks!) Gimme a break !!


132 posted on 07/29/2003 12:14:01 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (Bu-bye Dixie Chimps! / Coming Soon !: Freeper site on Comcast. Found the URL. Gotta fix it now.)
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To: WVNan
((((WOLFIE)))) I've missed you!

Helooooo, sweet Nan! I'm happy to see you! : )

Here is a quilt for you.

Beautiful! I'l share it with *you*. (((((((((((Nan))))))))))) : )

I'm really looking forward to hearing about your and Xie's time together. : )

133 posted on 07/29/2003 12:14:37 PM PDT by ST.LOUIE1
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To: FreeTheHostages; Diver Dave
You seem a little jealous of Diver Dave's win.

How can you say that? I congratulated Diver, most sincerly, without a hint of jealousy.

Stop trying to cause trouble! :)

134 posted on 07/29/2003 12:15:14 PM PDT by The Thin Man
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To: WVNan
Oh, that's a bright and colorful bluebird quilt! Thank you, Nan!

Wish you had a picture of your sister-in-law's quilt you were describing!

135 posted on 07/29/2003 12:15:16 PM PDT by Billie
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To: dansangel; Aeronaut
"It just goes to show that quilting/crocheting is definitely *not* just a "woman thing."

Don't forget that The Duke of Windsor used to knit for relaxation. . . and aren't some of the best tailors and chefs in the world men?

Fabric and yarn and pots and pans are not limited in use to one gender or the other, any more than lawnmowers and piloting planes - might be an "Aeronautress" out there somewhere...:))

136 posted on 07/29/2003 12:21:12 PM PDT by LadyX (( To God be the Glory ))
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To: Aquamarine
ROTFLOL! Careful TTM, I think Free would like to cover you with a quilt and beat you with a stick! LOL

LOL! I don't understand her hostility towards me. I've always tried to be nice.

137 posted on 07/29/2003 12:21:18 PM PDT by The Thin Man
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To: Libertina; FreeTheHostages
Hi, Libby - gosh it's good to see you! Free's the Quilter in the 'family'! Didn't she do a great job making 'quilting' sound fun and interesting?! It's always fun to design the layouts for her 'stuff'!
138 posted on 07/29/2003 12:22:11 PM PDT by Billie
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To: dansangel
You've been huggin' everybody except your fuzzy brotha. Sniff. : (
139 posted on 07/29/2003 12:23:43 PM PDT by ST.LOUIE1
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To: Billie; FreeTheHostages
Remember last week when she mentioned making a hostess graphic, and asked about sizing, etc? She made the hostess collage and the quilt collage at the bottom of the thread!

Wow, Freezie - you ***ROCK***

140 posted on 07/29/2003 12:24:49 PM PDT by dansangel (America - Love it, Support it or LEAVE it!)
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