GimletBlog

Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, Manufactures, &c. was one of the finest monthly publications available during the late Georgian and Regency eras.  Published by Rudolph Ackermann in London from 1809-1829, each month’s Repository featured a pair of fashion plates in addition to other illustrations and articles covering a variety of topics.  Some issues included embroidery patterns and fabric samples, which have provided inspiration in the creation of Regency costumes and the genteel lifestyle seen in Jane Austen film adaptations.  These delicate aquatint illustrations and lovely fashions continue to delight and inspire us today.

To commemorate 200 years of Ackermann’s Repository, my web site Solitary Elegance will feature a new desktop wallpaper each month in 2009 showcasing two fashion plates:  one from 1809 and the other from a different year during Jane Austen’s lifetime.  Enjoy!

14 January ETA: I’m honored and delighted to report that  my new wallpaper gallery has been featured in this month’s (Issue 47) online newsletter from the Jane Austen Centre in Bath!  Thanks so much!

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Thing One is a T-shirt guy:  regardless of the weather, he can be seen wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt.  Over the years we’ve collected dozens of T-shirts from vacations, school events, and other occasions.  The shirts he’s outgrown were taking up a good amount of storage space, but I couldn’t bear to get rid of them — it was a storage bin filled with memories — and then The Gimlet suggested, “Why not make a T-shirt quilt?”

I’ve watched my mother make countless baby quilts over the years (not telling how many years, but the first one was for Uncle B, so do the math) but I’ve been sewing machine-phobic ever since that disastrous quarter in junior high Home Economics, so I wasn’t sure I could make a quilt on my own.  Nevertheless, the local fabric store had a booklet by Better Homes & Gardens about T-shirt and other memory quilts, and I had bought a not-too-intimidating little Kenmore sewing machine to keep my linens, Hardanger fabric, and other evenweaves from unraveling while I stitched, so it was time to give quilting a try.

After cutting off the sleeves and neck, and separating the front and back of the T-shirt, attach fusible interfacing to keep the T-shirt fabric from stretching.  The booklet suggests using fusible tricot interfacing, with the stretch of the interfacing placed opposite from the T-shirt’s natural stretch.  Once the shirts were fused, I cut them into various sized squares depending on the size of the design.

Then it was time to play with quilt top designs and fabric choices!  Nanaimo followed the process with great interest from the beginning, whether stalking the rotary cutter or leaping into the bag of scraps, and laying out the rows of squares on the bed was an open invitation for him to roll around and act silly.  I chose two batiks in aquamarine and brown (looks like burled wood) to provide a neutral (but not boring) backdrop to the variety of colors and designs of the T-shirts, and a cozy blue flannel back that would complement the batiks.

The rest of the process was straightforward:  sew squares, then strips, together to create the quilt top; tie it, and finish up by binding it.  It was an easy enough project for this complete quilt and sewing novice to make, and somebody who really knows how to quilt could achieve more impressive results with a more complicated pattern of blocks (perhaps in different sizes and shapes) and a quilted, rather than tied, top.  One small note of warning:  the fusible interfacing adds an additional tougher layer of fabric to sew through, and I found tying the quilt to be more difficult than the baby quilts have been.  It’s not bad for a first attempt; I can see the mistakes I made but I think the quilt is structurally sound and Thing One loves his new quilt.  Not only is it great to be able to re-use these old shirts, it’s also a a fun way to remember the elementary school science fairs and school carnivals, and family vacations/Gimlet business trips around the country.  There are still several T-shirt blocks left over; not quite enough for a second full quilt but perhaps they’ll make up a smaller lap quilt some day, or I can add more shirts as Thing One continues to outgrow his old favorites.

A T-shirt quilt may be a project for the moms of younger children to look forward to making (you’ll be here before you know it, trust me) and it’s not a bad idea for recycling our own old shirts from Back In The Day which are just too cool to throw out.

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Last summer I decided to embroider several Hardanger table centerpieces as Christmas gifts.   Originally I planned to make four gifts, but by the beginning of December it was clear that there was no way I’d be able to complete more than three.  Each centerpiece took about two months to embroider, and while I managed to complete the much larger third project in two months as well, life would have been much easier if I had budgeted 3-4 months for it instead.

My grandmother received the first project:  a 20″ (approx. 51cm) square centerpiece based on a 1905 design from the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum.  I stitched it on white Hardanger fabric (22 count) with variegated blue perle cotton from DMC.  The openwork took a lot longer than I thought it would; overall the centerpiece is much more “lacy” than I expected it would be.  (See what it looked like before I did any cutting, weaving, or picots.)  I was also learning each stitch along the way, so I believe if I made this centerpiece again it wouldn’t take as long to embroider the basic surface stitches.

The second centerpiece, Mindy, was given to my aunt.  A little smaller than the Vesterheim centerpiece (18″ or 45cm), I used light blue Hardanger fabric and white DMC perle cotton with dark blue perle cotton accents.  This centerpiece was the easiest and quickest of all the projects to stitch.  One aspect of Hardanger embroidery I enjoy is watching the progression of a project:  each set of simple stitches adds to the overall beauty and complexity of the design.  Here’s a look at Mindy in progress.

Third (and last), my mother chose the pattern “Oldemors Kaffeduk” (Great-grandmother’s coffee cloth) from Lillil Thuve’s book Hardanger Design (Orion Forlag, 2000).  The original design is white embroidery on white fabric, but I decided to use Caron Watercolours Rose Quartz for the surface stitches, and cream Hardanger fabric was a better match with those colors.  Further, I added a personal touch:  my mother’s dining room has a view of her bird feeders, to which chickadees are one of the most frequent visitors.  A Cross Stitcher’s Oriental Odyssey (by Joan Elliott) includes charts for a delightful pair of chickadees which fit perfectly in each corner of the tablecloth.

While the tablecloth design was simple, the size of the project (81cm  or 32″) meant there was a lot more work to do than on the previous centerpieces.  The additional cross-stitched motifs also took extra time to complete — a little under one week per chickadee.  The tablecloth was successfully completed in two months, but the pace was much more intense and many other tasks around the house were neglected to meet the Christmas deadline.

I’m pleased with how the chickadee tablecloth turned out.  The cream fabric and delicate blend of pink, cream, taupe and green in the Watercolours skein give the piece an antique look.  I used ecru perle cotton rather than Caron’s Wildflowers Rose Quartz to weave the bars so the openwork would stand out; I noticed that the variegated thread in the Vesterheim centerpiece makes it difficult to see the dove’s eyes and picots.

Even though the goal of homemade gifts ended up becoming very stressful at the end — and I was very happy to be finished! — I’m glad I made the effort.  It’s been a great learning experience and is a fun hobby (relaxing, too, when there’s no deadline to meet).  The only problem now is that I gave away all my Hardanger pieces and have none for my own table.  I still have all the materials to make the Anna table runner, so I may keep it or give it as a gift this year.  I’ll also take some time choosing another pattern for myself, and enjoy the slower pace as well as the eventual results.

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This year’s Christmas celebrations didn’t happen quite as expected, but we made the best of the changes wrought by the weather.

Santa Claus was scheduled to make his traditional pre-Christmas visit the Monday before Christmas, but since the roads were dangerously icy, there was some question whether he would be able to venture out.  (I know, the sleigh and reindeer ought to be able to handle winter weather.  Work with me, here.)  Luckily the Gimletmobile and its 4-wheel drive abilities were able to make the trip to and from the North Pole, plus a much-needed grocery store stop for Mrs. Claus and the elves, too.

Thing One has always enjoyed his Santa visits, but Thing Two isn’t quite ready to let down his guard yet.  This year he was cordial but wary, eventually sitting on Santa’s lap, but confined his remarks to one word, regardless of the conversation topic:  “Yes.”  After Santa made his departure, Thing Two was heard to say, “Santa was a little scary.   He was very big.”  Unlike many celebrities one might see in person, Santa really is very big (as can be seen in the first photo, where he barely fits under the doorway) but we hope Thing Two will not let that prevent him from making friends with Santa as he gets to know him better.  Chinook and Nanaimo were disappointed at not being allowed to meet Santa; after he left they rushed upstairs to inspect his chair.

While the Gimletmobile was able to get around town for work and grocery shopping, conditions were worse for other family members.  Between cancelled trains from Portland, OR and Vancouver, BC which left cousins stranded, and steep, slippery hills and deep snow drifts, the decision was made to postpone the traditional Christmas Eve extended family party.  Instead, on Christmas Eve we put together a small dinner (not easy, since the grocery stores were running low on several items). The Gimlet brought over the GrandGimlets, Uncle B, and Uncle B’s friend Hillary, we opened a few presents and played games.  Santa had left behind a special gift for Grandpa:  canned haggis.  We’re not sure if that means Grandpa was good or bad this year.

Christmas Day brought yet another snowstorm and a long-distance surprise for the GrandGimlets:  Christmas greetings from Norway! (But no lutefisk to go with the haggis.)  Grandma was able to tell her cousin (who had no snow in her town) that Seattle was snowed in.  Over the next few days the temperatures (finally) rose above freezing and the snow melted enough to make our traditional family party possible on the Sunday after Christmas.  (The delay also made it possible for me to finish everybody’s Christmas gifts, an added bonus.)  As always, dinner was magnificent (the Christmas crackers were a fun new addition), we had a wonderful time, and we were especially grateful that the family was able to get together.  Thing Two had been very disappointed that Christmas was over, so a belated party helped him — and all of us — enjoy Christmas a little longer.

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