Treasure Chest

 I recently inherited my stepmother's old cedar chest. As I thought about arranging my newly remodeled weaving room, I knew exactly where to put it.

Cedar Chest in its new home under the front window.

It's not something I recall seeing at my paternal grandmother's house, so I'm assuming it was passed down through my stepmother's family or perhaps purchased for her or by her when she was a young woman. 

I couldn't find a date on the chest, but I was able to find information on the manufacturer. It was made by the Ed Roos Company which operated between 1918 to 1951 in Forest Park, Illinois. By the 1930s, it was the largest cedar chest manufacturer in the world, employing 400 people and utilizing something like three million feet of cedar annually. The chests were popularly sold as hope or dowry chests and were shipped all over the world.  

What treasures am I keeping inside it? 

Quilts!

Many of these were made by my great-grandmother. I remember as a very little girl, I was allowed to play with her 1-inch quilt squares. She was bedridden in the latter years of her life, and my grandmother said that her quiltmaking was a lifesaver. It kept her productive and creatively engaged until the end of her eighty-five years. The first four quilts shown here made by her.

Wreath of Leaves

My grandmother penciled the name of the pattern, the quilt
 maker, and the date of completion in the corner of each quilt.

All of Great-grandmother's quilts are completely handmade and it is remarkable that she hand-stitched eight to ten stitches per inch.

Desert Flower 1952

  

Rose of Sharon, or Garland Quilt. 1943

They're all in good shape, except a little dirty from use. My grandmother felt that they were meant to be enjoyed, so instead of keeping them packed away in a trunk, she would change them out periodically for the bedspread on her's and my grandfather's bed. When my grandmother passed away, each of her nine grandchildren were given one of these quilts. Plus I had one given to me previously, and received the one given to my stepmother. 

Although I have mostly applique quilts, my great-grandmother also made pieced quilts. This one is my childhood quilt, made for me by her, and one I loved dearly as a kid.

This one is dirty and badly love-worn and has no date. 

Other quilts in the cedar chest are of unknown origin.

Simple beginners quilt given to me by my grandmother. Either I don't
recall who made it or perhaps she didn't know, but someone in the family.

I believe the next several came down from my stepmother's family. There are no names or dates on any of them. 

a log cabin quilt

a tied quilt

double wedding ring

Lastly, there are a few made by me. Quilt making was one of my first adventures into textile arts (after learning how to sew and embroider).

My own beginner's quilt, 'Moon Over the Mountain' in phases of the moon with unrelated 
scraps of fabric. It was hand-sewn and hand-quilted. I used an old blanket for the batting.

This was my next quilt, hand-pieced and hand-quilted.

The crazy quilt I made for my dad and stepmom.

The story behind my crazy quilt is that it began with a series of embroideries I made over the years for my dad and stepmom as Christmas and birthday gifts. (You can see photos of the individual bird embroideries here.) Eventually somebody said they ought to be made into a quilt, so I agreed to make it. I got started on it but it was set aside when I had two small children to tend to. Years later, the quilt still wasn't done and it became quite the family joke where my dad would call and greet me with "how's the quilt coming along?" 

One day Dan and the kids said, "you've got to get it done." They agreed to do all the cooking and housework to let me work on it and finish it. Finally it was done! My folks got to enjoy it on their bed for many years, which I'm glad of. I'm also glad it came back to me. 

As you can see, my quilt collection pretty much fills up the chest. Heirloom quilts are indeed a treasure, and so perfect for a treasure chest. 

Treasure Chest © 2026 

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Shams And Rags

By Leigh

I finished my quilted pillow shams!

They aren't perfect, but I think they look well enough with the comforter.

I've also been cutting rag strips for the matching rag rug.

If you recall, this is going to be a summer & winter polychrome rag rug. This means that I will use a S & W threading, but will throw two different colored pattern shots between tabby shots. The whole thing is straightforward enough that I don't need to make a full drawdown for it. The threading will be a 2-block (4-shaft) summer and winter.

My sett will be 16 epi, and I want the squares to be the same size as those in the shams, 4 inches. That means each square will have 64 ends. With a threading unit of 4 ends, each block will be 16 units. I haven't calculated the width yet, probably four feet, for which I would need about 12 blocks and 768 ends. Length needs to be about 6 feet, which will probably require miles of rags!

Treadling will alternate two colors per block, following the same sequence as my pillow shams:

Pattern shot - blue
Pattern shot - green
Tabby a
Pattern shot - blue
Pattern shot - green
Tabby b
Repeat for four inches

Pattern shot - green
Pattern shot - brown
Tabby a
Pattern shot - green
Pattern shot - brown
Tabby b
Repeat for four inches

Pattern shot - brown
Pattern shot - blue
Tabby a
Pattern shot - brown
Pattern shot - blue
Tabby b
Repeat for four inches

Repeat

Rag cutting is rather slow going, I admit, but I can't get to my loom anyway, until we get the dining room floor down (which is next on the indoor project list). I started out measuring the width of the rags, but quickly abandoned that in preference to the eyeball method. It's faster and it will be close enough!

To be continued ........ one of these days.

© 12 November 2009 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Related Posts:
A Little Quilting
Summer & Winter: Polychrome Rug 1
Summer & Winter: Polychrome Rug 2

A Little Quilting

By Leigh

What better thing to do on a drizzly, damp, chilly, dark day than sit by a cozy fire ...

... and do a little sewing.

Thanks to our fireplace project, everything around here has been dusty and disorganized. With the new hardwood dining room floor to be put in next, the forecast is for more of the same, especially when we get to sanding it. So, weaving projects like living room draperies, and even sock knitting (I discovered that I can't find my needles) are on hold at the moment.

Still, I have to do something, which turned out to be an inspiration to make some pillow shams to match a comforter...

... which matches the green walls of our bedroom.

Initially, I had rag rugs in mind, so when I thought about sewing some pillow shams, I thought about making something that I could coordinate with a rag rug. I chose a very simple block pattern...

... and used a progressive color sequence which I can reproduce as a polychrome rag rug.

Quilting was my introduction to the world of fabric and textiles. Though it's been a long time since I've pieced any tops or done any quilting, I still very much appreciate the art.

At first I thought I'd do the quilting by hand. I used to have both a quilting frame and a quilting hoop, but I believe these were left behind along the way. I believe I still have some large embroidery hoops somewhere, but I'm really not sure where at the moment. So, I'm doing something I've never done before...

... quilting by machine. I appreciate how quickly it's going though and this is meant to be a simple project after all.

I'm not really following a pattern, but I did find instructions to sew mitered corners, here. There's lots of other good stuff there too.

© 14 October 2009 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Related post:

Shams and Rags

The Gestalt of Weaving (or Spinning, or Knitting, or ......... )

I have had something percolating in my mind, and the comments from my last post have really turned up the heat. Donna (blogless) left a comment on my Fibonacci post with a link to an article entitled "Gestalt Principles and Dynamic Symmetry: Nature's Design Connections to Our Built World". It's a rather scholarly article, which meant that I had to read carefully and think hard, especially in regards to how it applies to textile arts.

When I first read this article, the terms "Gestalt psychology" and "Gestalt principles" roused vaguely stored memories of college psychology classes, but no more than that. A little research, and I came up with this definition from Wikipedia:

Gestalt - A collection of physical, biological, psychological or symbolic entities that creates a unified concept, configuration or pattern which is greater than the sum of its parts.

On one level or another, we're all aware of the interplay between the parts versus the whole. For example, have you ever been complimented on a finished piece only to feel compelled to point out it's flaw(s) or what you don't like about it? Have you ever looked at an item and thought "Ug-LEE!," while the person next to you is sincerely raving over it to the point of actually buying it? Or, have you ever carefully planned out all the details to a project only to not like it once it's finished? I say, blame it all on Gestalt.

What I have been pondering in regards to weaving is the relative importance of the various details versus the overall impression that the finished piece gives. For example, Kate commented that my dishtowels look complex. And they do! This is exciting to me because the individual parts are very simple in themselves. (Gestalt again :)

Consider the parts:

* A simple warp of only three colors counted in a simple sequence ......


* A simple threading plan repeating only two possibilities on my four shafts......


* A simple tie-up......


* A straightforward treadling, simply repeating my threading plan.

I think what makes it look complex is the interplay of the stripes and colors. Gestalt.

As makers of textiles, it seems to me that we usually focus more on the details than on the whole. We notice them, analyze them, and fret over them if they don't meet our expectations. When I am unhappy with some part of my work, I am reminded of something my grandmother used to say......

No one will notice from a galloping horse.

I nod to the truth of this statement, but still dilemmize over whether to fix it or not. It ultimately boils down to how much I know it will bug me if I don't. Sometimes the only one it bothers is me.

 
When someone looks at my work and likes it, I realize that they don't see what I don't like. They are responding to the whole rather than to it's parts. I realize too, that people respond to things subjectively. To like or dislike a particular item, whether a skein of handspun designer yarn, a painting, or a handwoven dishtowel, is an emotional response based on one's own personal preferences and cultural tastes. We're all different so we like different things.

So after all that what's my point? I'm not sure. Yet. I suppose that understanding all this should free me from being overly critical of what I create. And it should encourage me out of the rut of working only with what I like. It should free me from a solely analytical response and encourage me to participate in an emotional one. I suspect however, that this may be easier said than done. Still, it's something to work on.

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

An Interesting Blog

My friend from North Carolina, Carol, sent me the link to an interesting embellishment blog, In a Minute Ago by Sharon Boggon.

Carol is always finding interesting things on the web. This one is not specifically a weaving, spinning, or knitting blog, but it deals with textiles (both contemporary and historical), fiber arts in general, quilting (especially crazy quilting), needlework, and embroidery. It also has a fantastic stitch dictionary, which all embroiderers and embellishers will be interested in.

I like this blog because quilting and embroidery were two of my first textile loves. Quilting is part of my family heritage. I remember my great grandmother hand sewing quilt after quilt.

My record UFO was my one and only crazy quilt. It took about 22 years to complete:


I defense of myself, I have to say that for the first 10 years I didn’t know it was going to become a quilt. The bird embroideries were gifts to my parents and grandparents at various times for many years. When my grandparents died, and my step mom inherited all the embroideries, she asked me to make them into a quilt. Then my daughter was born and life turned to raising children. The quilt was packed away. My dad used to love to tease me about it. His first question when he called would always be “How’s the quilt coming along?” We would both laugh, but that quilt nagged at my conscious. There were other things I was interested in, such as learning to spin, but for some reason the quilt kept me from moving on. (For close-ups of all my bird embroideries, click here. )

Sara Lamb has an interesting comment on her blog about being a single project person (an SPP). I’ve thought about that and wondered how it applies to me. I usually have a project on one of my spinning wheels, something on the loom, and one or two knitting projects at hand. But I finish what I start. There was a time in my early life however, when I started many things and finished none. My problem was that I didn’t have the self discipline to finish anything. When a new impulse struck, I was off and running.

Somehow the crazy quilt was my turning point. My enthusiasm for it as a project was long gone, but I knew that I had to finish it. I knew that I could never go on to anything else until it was done. I lamented having ever agreed to do it. I agonized that there was still so much to do on it.

Finally, my family had a conference and told me I had to finish the quilt. Everyone vowed to help with cooking and dishes and housework to give me time to finish it. So, roughly 12 years after I started it, I finished that crazy quilt. Then I packed it carefully in a box and mailed it off to my folks. I had such a sense of relief! I felt free! Shortly after that I bought my first drop spindle. Later came my first spinning wheel, then my second, then the loom. I haven’t made a quilt since.

Sorry for the digression, but crazy quilting does bring back memories. So, back to In a Minute Ago. Sharon updates her blog frequently with all kinds of interesting textile related links. Currently, she is presenting “A 100 Details for 100 Days.” Every day for the next 100 days she plans to feature a different stitch, embellishment, or seam treatment. Today she is on day 8.

But …………be forewarned. If you do visit her blog, you’ll find that it’s easy to spend hours here!

© 2006 Leigh's Fiber Journal