This 6" Wrench block was one of the first ones that I made for this project, using the pattern from The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt by Laurie Aaron Hird.
In this diary entry, Hattie has friends from Emporia coming by train for the week-end, but things don't go exactly as planned. The Wrench block name will give you a clue to some of the difficulties she had.
Saturday, May 13, 1916 -
"It's raining!
"O, I can't write. Hen and Lesta are in bed talking, and it is almost twelve so I'll not write any more now.
"Things turned out so different from the way I had planned! They always do. I got a letter from the kids this morning saying that at least Bing and Hen would be here, possibly the others. So I worked quite diligently until about three o'clock getting things ready. Papa had promised to be here early to drive the car, but he didn't come until about 4:30, so we were late starting. Orvel didn't have the car in perfect readiness as we thought, and we had to give it gasoline and water and a slight cleaning. Finally, at five o'clock we were off and went along very nicely until we came to the Ely Hill. Here we had to get out and crank as Papa kept killing the engine and then go a few feet and stop again. During this time, the train arrived and still we sat on the hill! Nearly desperate with cranking, Papa told me to go to Tyson's and phone to the garage. I did and also phoned to Stub. When he said my guests were wandering the streets, I told him to tell them what the trouble was and that I'd soon be there. A strong south wind was blowing and made walking rather difficult, but I was just plowing along when I saw the whole bunch coming, piled in Mr. Rowland's old dirty truck. I got in and came back to the Hill with them. When they got the car started again, Papa picked us up and we were soon here. We went for a little stroll down to my 'cozy nook' before supper. After supper, we went for another one up as far as Emonds.
"We came back and sat on the porch and danced and watched the clouds and lightning with hopes that it would not rain, but despite all hopes, it is fairly pouring."
You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post:
http://starwoodquilter.blogspot.com/2011/12/single-wedding-star-quilt-block.html
Cute color contrast!
ReplyDelete