A quilt every few days or so #10

In the mid to late 70s we lived on a farm in Kansas . . .

No, we didn't farm, but we rented out the pasture and the stables to people with horses. It was a great time for the kids - all that space to roam, a barn to climb in, chickens and of course the horses to watch. There was a pond out in the pasture for ice skating on in the winter. One year one of the horses came right out onto the ice with us and scared us silly. Fortunately the ice was thick enough - but I didn't have my camera so didn't get a picture of that frightful scene.

One of the stables was rented to some people with a dog. They wanted the dog played with, fed and run so they paid Rusty every week to take care of their dog. He couldn't wait to get home to play with the dog.

We also had cats - quite a few, but not many photos of them.

This is Calvin and Coolidge . . .

They liked the dollhouse . . .

The farm was wonderful for the kids - playing catch . . .

Playing mud football with Don . . .

The first summer there Rusty was eight and he wanted to mow the lawn by himself. He begged and begged until finally I got out the mower and started it for him - and he mowed the whole big lawn. Don was either at school or at work - so I got pictures of the first mowing for him.

Lori, Rusty, Beccy and Jamie, a little boy I babysat . . .in matcing summer outfits of Jolly Green Giant Fabric - that I sewed for them. I've recently seen this same fabric being reproduced.

A favorite game - chase Daddy . . .

All dressed up - near the end of our three years in Kansas . . .

Oh, yes, the reason we were in Kansas - so Don could finish college . . . with straight As and many awards - including Outstanding Young Men of America.

I made a lot of quilts in Kansas - it was very cold in the winters - sometimes -20 degrees and lots and lots of snow. The farm house was not insulated and many winter mornings we would wake up to snow on the window seat in the dining room - it had sifted through the window casings from the constant wind that blew in Kansas.


A Lone Star - a huge Lone Star - made in 70s colors. This pattern came from a McCalls Craft magazine and I copied the colors almost exactly as the pattern - we've come a long ways baby!

This was hand pieced and each separate diamond piece was cut out and pieced together - this was long before rotary cutters and mats and strip piecing. I gave this to friends when they got married the summer before we moved away from Kansas.

This was my first Grandmother's Flower Garden - again from McCalls Craft magazine. The pieces were larger than I use now for GFG quilts - all hand pieced - and not English paper piecing either. I pieced this before moving to Kansas and quilted it the first winter in Kansas.


Double Wedding ring, made using cardboard templates and hand pieced. Also hand quilted. We wore thise quilt to shreds.

A machine pieced quilt, made the first summer in Kansas. It was so cold and we had moved from sunny, warm California. I had several quilt tops and needed them quilted, so I found an ad in the local newspaper for machine quilting.

The machine quilting was done in the basement and there was a long track on the ceiling that supported the machine on "long arms", and it was operated by moving the machine on the tracks in the quilting pattern you wanted to produce. I had four quilt tops and we really needed them to keep warm. The price was $7.50 - each - that's right - $7.50 per quilt - no matter the size. There were three double/queen size and one king size quilt - and each cost $7.50, plus she provided the batting. It stretched our budget to have all four done at once, but we were cold so we managed.

I had pieced this quilt in Wisconsin, many years before and it was one of the quilts that were machine quilted in Kansas . . . (we still have this quilt)

Every fall there was a big fund raiser in Kansas City, MO - not too far from where we lived. Interior decorators would pick a room in one of the many mansions in Kansas City and decorate them in their style. Tickets were sold for home tours. One of the decorators contacted me about making quilts for twin beds in the room she was doing. She bought the fabric and I made the quilts. These are done in the quilt-as-you-go style so when the piecing was finished - the quilt was finished. Again - you see the colors of the mid 70s. The decorator kept the quilts, as she had paid for the materials - and that was ok with me - not my favorite colors. It was fun to know that my quilts were in a home tour.