An October Mini Quilt and Some History

First a story: 

In the spring of 1623,  90 some passengers

embarked on two small English ships,

the Anne and a smaller ship, the Little James.

After 3 months at sea, The Anne arrived at

Plymouth on July 10, 1663.

On board was my 9th great grandmother,

Hester Mahieu Cooke and her children

Jacob, Jane, and Hester.

She had stayed behind in Leiden in the Netherlands in 1620

while her husband, Francis and her oldest son,

John, sailed on the Mayflower heading for America. 

She must have been a very brave and very confident woman

to remain behind.   Her faith must have given her the strength 

she needed to stay positive and hopeful that

everything would work out according to their plan

 and that her family would be reunited someday.

There couldn't have been much communication

between November, 1620 and July, 1623,

but Hester left Leiden with others

from her Separatist group and

set sail for the New World.

What would life be like?

Would Francis and John be waiting for them?

Fortunately,  it was a happy reunion

on the shores of North America after 3 years apart.

Later they had one more child, Mary, who is my

8th great grandmother.  I'm glad everything

worked out!

They remained in Plymouth until their deaths

in 1663 (Francis) and Hester (1666).

This month I decided to work with my

Dutch fabric and use the book, Promenade in a Dutch Garden

to make a quilt honoring Hester and

her story.

It didn't take long to decide to stitch a small

mini quilt  made up of hourglass blocks with

a small appliqued star in the center. 

Maybe Hester focused on a star each evening and hoped that her 

husband and son were looking at the same star,

bringing them closer in her mind and heart.

Leaving Home, Leiden, 1623

17" x 21"

Pattern from Petra Prins and An Moonen's book,

 Promenade in a Dutch Garden

It gave me a chance to play with all the

beautiful Dutch fabrics that I have been collecting

along with some Jo Morton favorites.

An hourglass was a way for people to keep track of time.

I'm sure Hester kept close track of the days, months, and years

while she remained in Leiden.

The quilting is simple in the ditch

machine quilting,

nothing fancy, similar to her probable life style.

I finished the edges in a traditional

Dutch way with a separate facing.

This method makes the edges sharp and clean without 

an added frame created with traditional binding.

With Thanksgiving approaching it

will be nice to have this small quilt included in 

the holiday as a way 

to remember this brave woman

and her Dutch connection.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Happy Thanksgiving, A Little Early

 The Mayflower has landed!

After 66 days of rough seas and during the height 

of the North Atlantic storm season, 

the Mayflower with it's 102 passengers

and 28 crew sighted land,

 Cape Cod on November 9,1620.

This isn't where they were suppose to go.

But after such a terrible journey, this is where

they decided to stay!

Look what I finished.

"Coming to America"

The Women of the Mayflower

Celebrating 400 Years

a design by Brenda Gervais

The cross stitch listed the 18 married women

who travelled on the Mayflower

with their husbands.

Only 5 women survived the first winter 

and only 4 were there for the famous Thanksgiving,

Ellen Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, 

Mary Brewster, and Susannah White who later

married Elizabeth Winslow's widowed husband.

 My Mayflower descendant,

Francis Cooke arrived with his son, John.

(My 9th great grandfather)

They had decided that Hester and the other 4 children

were to remain in Leiden, Netherlands until later.

And I'm glad they decided to do that!

Hester and the kids arrived in 1623 on the ship, Anne.

And the Cooke's had one more child, 

Mary, who I am descended from.

The Pilgrims didn't leave a list of the

provisions that they brought with them, but

based on other lists, historians have 

taken a educated guess.

Did you know two dogs travelled on the Mayflower?

An English Spaniel and an English Mastiff

The Pilgrims survived.

They would celebrate their arrival

in the New World and all that the

 Wampanoag Indians had done for them

with a feast on the one year anniversary of 

their arrival in the autumn of 1621.

Well, Francis lived a very long life (80 years)

and Hester (82 years).

I would have to say they were strong and

determined people.   

I feel honored to have these two people

in my family and hope

to keep their story alive for generations to come.

Wishing you and your family 

a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving.

****

Confession!

I have fallen down the cross stitch 

rabbit hole.  I've started another project

by Blackbird Designs.

I knew this might be a problem!

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Over The River and Through The Woods

With Thanksgiving just around the 

corner here in the states,

there's a whole lot of prepping going on.

Quilt wise, the same thing.

Prepping needles

for more stitching on

my vintage ocean wave.

Last week I was basting like this.

 This week I'll be basting like this.

I've got daughters and their husbands 

and grandkiddos coming my way

minus the one horse open sleigh,

so quilting will have to wait.

But that's okay.

Just two little thoughts 

for our Thanksgiving Day.

And

Until Next Time-

Kyle

The Prep Before the Meal

Anyone who has prepared a 

holiday meal for family and friends,

 knows that it just doesn't magically appear

on the table.

When everyone is licking their lips

and oooing and ahhhing 

 over the deliciousness

of the meal

there is a kitchen like this in the background.

It takes a lot of work to 

finally get to this point. 

The same thing happens when making a quilt.

I've been working on 

the ThimbleCreek Quilt Shop's

Halloween mystery quilt

since July.

I've had Halloween fabrics in piles

for months.

We got the final clue last week.

Yay!

Now there are literally

500- 2" four patches to make

for the lattice.

 Of course,

there's pressing involved

 and lots more sewing.

Eventually,

 the blocks and lattice strips

will come together.

And then the big reveal

ooooo, ahhhh.....

Delicious!

But not yet.

I'm still cooking
and making a mess.

Until then

have a wonderful Thanksgiving

counting your many blessings.

 Until Next Time-

Turkey Jack

 It's been many many Thanksgivings ago,

that Turkey Jack came to be

a special part of my Thanksgiving decorations.

"Turkey Jack"

30" tall

I don't remember the pattern designer

or exactly when he was made.

But I do remember the fun 

my friends and I had making Turkey Jacks.

The instructions were long and involved.

And included sewing, painting, stuffing,

making clothes, and all 

the other details that makes Jack so great.

Rather than each of us work on our own,

we assembly lined production.

Each person had a portion to do

and then we put all the parts together

and 

all the Turkey Jack came into existence.

He's my Thanksgiving decorations for this year.

And seeing I don't cook a turkey for the holiday,

he loves to stay around and just hang out with the family.

Until Next Time-

Pie is the traditional dessert for Thanksgiving.  

Everyone has their favorites and traditions.

Pie is relatively easy and inexpensive to make.

Most can be made a day or two ahead.

Remember, I said easy, not neat.

No matter what you have eaten for your 

Thanksgiving meal there is always

room for a sliver of pie.

I read that the top 3 pies for Thanksgiving are:

Apple pie

Chocolate

and Pumpkin

Well, I made 2 of the three.

Pie is humble.

Pie is nostalgia.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We were apart yet, through the wonder of skype

we were together.

Until Next Time-

Thanksgivings Coming

I have never been a procrastinator.

I like to think and work ahead to avoid

 stress or anxiety.

I don't work well under pressure.

I guess my mom emphasized that attribute.

As a kid I always had my school work done

way ahead of time.

It's a trait that has stuck ever since I was young.

Well, with Thanksgiving a week away, it

means I need to start my Thanksgiving count down.

The menu is planned.

That's easy because it rarely changes.

I have a whole folder of interesting recipes, but

my family generally rejects any new ideas.

Turkey is dismissed immediately.

Next is organizing and planning a grocery list.

I have a general list that I use each year.

I just make a new copy.

I'll head off to the stores over the weekend.

Also on the weekend, I'll plan the table and

clean out the frig to make room for all the good food..

Ed will make "the Sauce".

Monday means getting out the appropriate serving dishes,

utensils, place settings, and tablecloths and napkins and 

planning a simple centerpiece.

Tuesday or Wednesday is prep day.  Making

the pie crusts, cranberries, rolls and ,I think, this year

making the ravioli's ahead.

Poor Ed always ends up away from the family making

raviolis on Thanksgiving

in the basement on his special pasta table

When it is, Thanksgiving, it will be just putting it all together
and enjoying time with family.

Our Italian menu is pretty straightforward
and allows everyone to take pleasure in the day.
It's not "the traditional" meal, but
the Redente family won't have it any other way.

Until Next Time-Kyle

Thanksgiving

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant,
to enact gratitude is generous and noble,
but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.
Johannes A. Gaertner

Don't you love Norman Rockwell? The above work of art was one painting in a four part series called Four Freedoms. This depiction of a Thanksgiving dinner is Rockwell's representation of the “Freedom From Want”.
My family may not look exactly like this family and we will not be serving a turkey, but we will still be celebrating with grateful hearts and love.

Maybe like your Thanksgiving, ours is filled with traditions.  Because of Ed's Italian background our Thanksgiving menu has always been just a bit different.  It is served with an Italian style.  Instead of waiting for the the turkey to emerge from the oven, we anticipate homemade raviolis.  Ed has been perfecting his recipe and style over the years and I do believe he has reached perfection.

Know matter what you serve for dinner, what matters most is the opportunity for families and communities to come together and celebrate the season in a tradition that's timeless.

Happy Thanksgiving-Kyle

Thanksgiving Decorations

When my girls lived at home, decorating for the holidays was fun.  Maybe because we would do it all together, even if I was the one to put things away. The decorations just added to the festive feeling.  Getting out the boxes with all the special items, was like seeing old friends who had been away for awhile.  There might be a few store bought items, but most decorations were hand made.

Now that it's just Ed and myself, it's not quite the same feeling when holidays come.  It's hard to get those decorations out and then to put away again.  It just seems like too much work.

Thanksgiving is coming and we might end up with quite a house full of guests!  Do I get things out to spruce up the house for the holiday?  Or maybe, better yet, just a couple of special items to make it look like Thanksgiving?

I found two things that I think will look good.  First is my favorite turkey of all time.  He's probably almost 10 years old.  Some friends and I , decided to each make one of these.  We had so much fun working together.  We assembly lined the steps and laughed and laughed some more.  Each turkey took on a different personality. 

You just can't beat this turkey!

The other decoration has to be a quilt.  This "Crazy Pumpkins" will look good on the back of a chair.

This is a Need'l Love pattern that I made in 2006.  Again with my friends encouragement, meaning we were all working on the same design at the same time, made it a fun quilt to make.  Each pumpkin has different embroidery stitches incorporated into the design.

While trying to decide what I should use to decorate, I found three other things I have to share.  All of us who are moms have these special handmade decorations that we just love because they were made by our kids.

Kate's fall mask

Jessica's Pilgrims

Elizabeth's one of kind pine cone turkey

OK, now I have 5 decorations out for Thanksgiving!

Until next time-Kyle