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The Namesake: Dorothy, 1902. A Friendship Album Story

Hello, Friends!

As we get closer to opening the pages of Friendship Album, 1934: Forget-Me-Not, I thought it might be nice to whet your appetite with a new Friendship Album story. Today’s offering, “The Namesake,” is another Dorothy story. I hope you enjoy getting to know Dorothy as a very young mother. I also hope you’ll find it interesting to learn more about Dorothy’s family tree and life in Milton Falls back in the day, before automobiles and electricity.

Thanks as always for being a part of the Story Guild. Your support means so much to me! I wish you and your family a very happy holiday season and a very merry Christmas!

All best,

Frances

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A Friendship Album Christmas Archive Story & Pattern

When Emmeline Grangerfield sets out to make Christmas merry and bright for a group of orphans, things quickly spiral out of control. Will help arrive in time to revive her holiday spirit? It will be up to the quilters of Depression-era Milton Falls, Ohio, to find time for the true meaning of Christmas during the busiest season of the year. In this short story prequel, Frances O’Roark Dowell visits two of the five women who come together to form an improbable quilting circle in her historical novel, Friendship Album, 1933

PDF: A Friendship Album Christmas, 1932 & Pattern

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Hands All Around, Vol. 1, No. 1

In this issue of Hands All Around, writer and quilter Frances Dowell discusses how the practice of sustainable quilting makes us mindful of the past as we consider the impact of our craft on future generations. Frances O’Roark Dowell is a novelist and quilter who often writes about quilts and quiltmakers. Her books include Birds in the Air, Margaret Goes Modern and Friendship Album, 1933. She is a long-time board member of the Quilt Alliance, an organization that serves to document quilts and quilt stories.

Hands All Around, Vol. 1, No. 1 (PDF)

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Happy National Quilting Day! Quilts of the McKissick Museum

Happy National Quilting Day! I know most of us will be celebrating within the comfort of our own homes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a virtual tour of a wonderful quilt exhibit! Recently, my husband and son took a trip to the University of South Carolina in Columbia for a college visit. Much to my delight, they returned home with photos to the McKissick Museum, which is currently hosting the exhibit, “Piece by Piece: Quilts from the Permanent Collection.” I thought you might enjoy these quilt pix as much as I did!

From the McKissick’s description of the exhibit:

“Piece by Piece: Quilts from the Permanent Collection” illustrates the evolution of this textile tradition over the past one hundred and fifty years. From the early use of chintz fabrics to the widespread popularity of solid colors, these quilts reflect traditions with roots in Europe, Africa, and the American South. Visitors will have the opportunity to view 40+ quilts over the course of the show, chosen from McKissick Museum’s extensive quilt collection. Due to the fragile nature of historic textiles, individual quilts will be only be displayed for a limited time, with three rotations occurring throughout the year.

Established in 1976, the McKissick Museum is located at the heart of the historic Horseshoe on the University of South Carolina’s campus. Our collections date back to 1801 and provide insight into the history of the university and the community, culture, and environment of the American South.

Enjoy the quilts! P.S. To stay up-to-date on all of our news here at Quiltfiction, including new podcast episodes and special events, be sure to sign up for the Quiltfiction newsletter!

Barn Raising Log Cabin
Maker Unknown
Eastern Pennsylvania, ca. 1880-1910
Gift of Stephen H. Ackerman
This variation of the traditional log cabin block uses light and dark “logs” to frame a red square, which represent’s the home’s hearth. (McKissick Museum Collection 1998.09.112.02)

Crazy Quilt
Eva Lovelace Counts (1878-1942)
Prosperity, SC. 1926
McKissick Museum Collection

Figurative Applique, Original Pattern
Maker Unknown
Southeast. Ca. 1950
The block-style quilt features 20 0ff-white, black and brown female figures with outstretched arms. It appears the maker of this quilt may have adapted a paper doll pattern for her original design. The figures on some blocks are entirely machine pieced; other have machine-pieced bodies with hand appliquéd heads, suggesting perhaps more than one person worked on the quilt. It is hand-quilted in a clam shell pattern. (McKissick Museum Collection 2001.11.XX.01)

String Quilt
Anna Byrd (1910-unk.)
Spartanburg, SC. ca. 1930
Anna was born in Fairfield County, SC. She married James Byrd in 1925 and they had six children. The donor of this quilt was their oldest son, John W. Byrd. The African American maker of this quilt was especially skilled at juxtaposing light and dark fabric “strings” to great visual effect, which she quilted in long running stitches, with no definite design. (McKissick Museum Collection 2012.05.01)

Pinwheel Variation
Caroline Mahaffey Babb (1874-1947)
Fountain Inn, SC. ca. 1900
Gift of Gloria Burnside
Red, white and blue 3-patch design with distinctive sawtooth border. Neatly hand-stitched Pinwheel pattern, also called Clay’s Choice. When Nancy Cabot introduced this quilt pattern to Chicago Tribune readers in April 1933, she noted Henry Clay’s efforts in 1850 to introduce a compromise bill that would forestall the Civil War. (McKissick Museum Collection 2012.05.01)

Rectangle Quilt
Thomas Mack, Beaufort County, SC. 1999
Machine-sewn of rectangular, alternating pieces of burlap and handmade indigo prints made by Arianne King Comer. Burlap is from Idaho potato bags. (McKissick Museum Collection 1999.23.11.01)

Double Irish Chain
Maker Unknown, Chattooga County, Georgia, ca. 1880
Gift of Sarah M. Norton
McKissick Museum Collection 6.1804

Coxcomb Variation
Sarah Edith Coleman Colvin (1856-1930)
Fairfield County, SC. ca. 1880
Gift of Edith E. Adams in memory of Mary Colvin Adams and Eva Colvin
In what at first appears to be a traditional block-style, appliquéd, two-colored quilt, Colvin instead appliquéd the hand-pieced “coxcombs” onto muslin and then machine-quilted the background in a crisscross, diamond pattern. (McKissick Museum Collection 2001-03-138-02)

Outline Embroidered Quilt
Maker Unknown
South Carolina, ca. 1910
Single-colored, outline-embroidered quilts created from square that had been pre-stamped with a design were popular with needleworkers from 1910-1930. (McKissick Museum Collection 2013.11.100)

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Quilts of the North Carolina State Fair

It’s been nearly twenty years since I last went to the State Fair, but yesterday Mr. Dowell and I braved the crowds to see some sights. Of course, I was really there for the quilts, and they did not disappoint! I loved the broad spectrum of quilting styles represented—everything from Yo-Yo quilts and Cathedral Windows to quilts with modern curves, appliqued tulips, and pixalated Dachshunds.
Did I eat any fried candy bars while at the fair? No, I did not, as tempting as they might have been. I did spend an inordinate amount of time gazing at the canned foods (they were in beautifully-lit display cases; it was like standing in front of a jewelry store window) and searching for the pies, which I never found (where were the pies?!). There was a special exhibit of very fancy cakes, and the line to see them was longer than the line for the fried dough and the fried Snickers combined.
[envira-gallery id=”1178″]

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“Picnic Basket (Eula, 1902)” — A Friendship Album Story!

I’m so happy to have a new Friendship Album story to share with you! While determining what might happen next with my novel, Friendship Album, 1933–right now I’m in the process of reaching out to agents–I thought I’d work on some stories about our favorite quilters from Milton Falls.

In today’s story, we meet 18-year-old Eula Rhodes, a young woman widely regarded as one of the best quilters and cooks in her small farming community of Homerville, Ohio. While some wonder when Eula will marry, Eula wonders who would be interested—and she’s not sure if she cares. Life at home with her rambunctious brothers, fun-loving sisters and her understanding mother is comfortable and comforting. But when she meets Dan Baker, a farmer with an eye for quilts, she begins to wonder if she might be ready to make a home of her own.

If you want to keep up with the latest from the Quiltfiction podcast, please sign up for our newsletter! I’ll be sure to let you know what’s happening with Friendship Album, 1933, and my other quilt fiction endeavors.

Notes: Friendship Album, 1933: Episode 39

In Episode 39, Emmeline is in for a big surprise at the quilt show.

St. Louis, Missouri. Cote Brilliants School, 1918. Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/2017674670/.

And here we are, at the end of the novel! Can you believe it? The first episode of Friendship Album, 1933, aired on June 6th of 2018. Now, eleven months later, we close the book. I hope you’ve enjoyed it!

Plans are in the works to continue with the podcast after a short hiatus and to eventually have a sequel to Friendship Album, 1933. We haven’t set firm dates yet, but I’ll let you know when I have it all figured out! To stay updated, sign up for my newsletter using the form on the right, or at this link: Join the Quilt Fiction Community!

In the meantime, thanks for listening! If you’ve enjoyed the podcast, I hope you’ll consider telling your friends as well as leaving a 5-star rating and a nice review on iTunes. I’ve had so much fun writing and reading this novel, and I’m happy that you’ve joined me as we’ve followed the adventures of our girls in Milton Falls! See you soon, I hope!