Fields and Fences Quilt Block

Fields and Fences Quilt Block

This 12" Fields and Fences block is the tenth block of my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt.  I found the pattern for this block in Block Base.  It was first published by Nancy Cabot in 1938.      

While my maternal grandmother was still in high school, she interviewed her father, James Lynch, at the urging of her older brother Will, who was living in China at the time.  (Read his letter to her here.)  Later, she wrote a biography of her father from the notes she'd taken during the interview.  Following is the tenth part of this biography: 

"The next year, he (James) used a breaking plow hitched to a pony and an oxen and worked for Mr. Condell to pay for the use of them.  He made posts and used smooth wire to fence his land.  He later bought two oxen.  The grass was shoulder high.  His land was next to Elm Creek, with running water and shade.  On week-ends, he walked to Burlingame and back to get supplies (fifteen miles one way).  He bought lumber in Burlingame to build a one-room house east of where the present house is and later added another room.  These he moved to where Inez and Frank Lynch live.  These are the south room.  He added a large room on the north in later years, which became the kitchen.

Barn Built by James Lynch on His Farm

"The Condells lived in the middle of the field south and east of James' land.  The house is gone now.  In later years, it was reached by a lane that came in from the east.  Condell expanded his land to enclose what later was the Miller Ranch.  He planted trees (hedge, I think) all around the perimeter.  Mr. Condell and Mr. Cunningham were kind to James and took care of him when he was ill with ague.  It was a form of malaria, with chills and fever.*  It came on regularly each afternoon, so he could only work in the mornings."
  - by Hazel Lynch Skonberg, James Lynch's daughter
 
*Chapter 15 of Little House on the Prairie is titled "Fever 'N' Ague."  The entire Ingalls family gets sick with both fever and chills (ague).  Pa thought it was caused from breathing the night air.  Ma blamed the watermelon.  "No one knew, in those days, that fever 'n' ague was malaria, and that some mosquitoes give it to people when they bite them."  Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, page 198. 

James Lynch moved to Kansas in November of 1867.  The Ingalls moved to Kansas in 1869, settling about 100 miles south of James.    

Are you interested in reading more about this quilt?  You'll find it all right here.

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

Wild Rose Quilt Block and Plants Around Starwood

 Wild Rose Appliqued Quilt Block

 

Wild Roses are blooming around Starwood.

 

 The Spreading Dogbane has tiny, bell-shaped flowers.

 The little flowers have pink stripes inside.  A swallowtail is enjoying the nectar.

 

The Rocky Mountain Maples have hanging,

V-shaped pairs of 1" long, winged seeds. 

 

 

The Chokecherries have green fruit.

 

  And tiny acorns are beginning to grow on the Gambel's Oak (Scrub Oak) trees.

You might enjoy reading my previous blog post here.





Midsummer Night Quilt Block and a Summer Concert

Midsummer Night Quilt Block

 

A wonderful part of summer here is Concerts in the Park.  People of all ages bring chairs or blankets to sit on for the Wednesday evening concerts.  Families bring picnics or enjoy the hamburgers and hot dogs available for sale.  Local merchants provide homemade cookies, two for $1.  Wisdom Tea House sells their delicious gelato.  High school Key Club members walk around collecting trash.  The hat is passed for the band.  Over the years, money has been raised to build a bandstand as well as bathrooms.

         

 

Young boys toss a football or kick a soccer ball. 

Children swing and play on the nearby playground.

Tiny children run around and dance to the music.

 

The park is located right by the train tracks,

so you can count on a train or two to pass by during the concert.

 

Many of the bands play a "train" song when one passes by.

And the sunset puts on its own show.

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post "Sunflower Quilt Block" here.

Sunflower Quilt Block

I found this 12" Sunflower block in the book Happy Birthday Kansas! by Linda Frost and published by Kansas City Star Books.  It's the ninth block of my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt. 

While my maternal grandmother was still in high school, she interviewed her father, James Lynch, at the urging of her older brother Will, who was living in China at the time.  (Read his letter to her here.)  Later, she wrote a biography of her father from the notes she'd taken during the interview.  Following is the ninth part of this biography: 

"James stayed in Illinois until November 1867 when he went to Kansas after getting letters from former neighbors.  One neighbor was Mr. Phelps, who had bought the farm later known as the Shepherd farm and after that the Kaniper Place.  The other neighbor was Mr. Cunningham, who owned the farm right across the road from where James later built his house.  In later years, James bought that farm, and it was my brother Carl's home.

"These neighbors had written to him that he could buy cheap land in Kansas.  He took the train to Topeka and the stage to Burlingame and visited these friends.  He bid on and bought 134 acres at four dollars per acre.  He then went to live with his younger brother Thomas (who lived between Lawrence and Lecompton) and worked there that winter to get money to farm with."

  - by Hazel Lynch Skonberg, James Lynch's daughter
 


 Are you interested in reading more about this quilt?  You'll find it all right here.

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

Eating Turkey Swamp Coffee Cake and Spinach Roll-Ups with the Quilters' Book Club

Turkey Tracks Quilt Block

This month the Quilters' Book Club has been reading and discussing The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue.  Member Julie from Japan has brought her Turkey Swamp Coffee Cake and Lisa from Georgia has brought her Spinach Roll-Ups.  Good food, a good book, and good internet friends!  Priceless!

 

Turkey Swamp Coffee Cake

1 box yellow cake mix      
1 box instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sour cream

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup nuts*

1.  Mix together the cake mix, instant pudding, eggs, oil, and sour cream.
2.  Pour half the batter into a 10-inch tube pan.

3.  Mix the cinnamon, sugar, and nuts.*
4.  Sprinkle half of the nut mixture on the batter. Add the rest of the batter and the remainder of the nut mixture on top.

5.  Bake one hour at 375 degrees F.

* Julie says she uses a generous cup of chopped walnuts. ("After all, you can't have too many nuts.")  Check out her blog post here to read the origin of the unusual name and to learn about substitutions if you'd rather not use a cake mix.

Lisa’s Spinach Roll-Ups

1 egg, beaten

1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

4 green onions, finely chopped

15 sheets frozen phyllo dough (14x9 inch), thawed

1/3 cup butter, melted

 

1.  Mix egg, spinach, cream cheese and onions until well blended. Brush 1 phyllo sheet lightly with butter; top with 2 more phyllo sheets, lightly brushing each layer with some of the remaining butter. Place remaining phyllo between sheets of plastic wrap; set aside.

2.  Spread 1/5 of the spinach mixture along one short side of phyllo stack. Fold in long sides of phyllo; roll up from one short side to make log. Repeat with remaining phyllo sheets and spinach mixture. Brush with remaining butter. Make small cuts in tops of logs at 1-inch intervals. Place in large freezer-weight, resealable plastic bags or wrap tightly in plastic wrap.

3.  Freeze up to 3 months. When ready to bake, remove desired number of logs from freezer. Refrigerate tightly wrapped, several hours or overnight until thawed. Unwrap, then place on baking sheet. Bake in 375°F oven for 25 min. or until golden brown. Cool 5 min. Transfer to cutting board. Use serrated knife to cut each log into 6 slices.

Lisa says, “I have to make two batches when I make them.  They are the first thing to disappear at a gathering.”

 

I'd like you to imagine that the Quilters' Book Club is all together in a living room, eating Julie's Turkey Swamp Coffee Cake and Lisa's Spinach Roll-Ups as we discuss The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue.  We're going around the circle, each sharing something about the book.  It's your turn.  What would you say?  Please answer in the comment section below.  There are no right or wrong answers.  We'd just love to hear your thoughts on the book. 

By commenting, you are entering your name in a giveaway for a $20 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop, courtesy of the Fat Quarter Shop!  The more posts you comment on, the greater your chance of winning.  Winner will be announced July 1!

 

Plan now for next month:  the Quilters' Book Club selection for July is Wedding Ring by Emilie Richards, realistic fiction set in Virginia.  Google Reader is ending on July 1.  I would encourage you to click the Bloglovin' link at the top right side of my post to conveniently be able to read new blog posts. 

 

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

Courthouse Steps Quilt Block

This Courthouse Steps quilt block is the eighth block of my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt.  I found the pattern for this 12" block here.  Each of the logs is 1" finished, with a 2" center square.  It's one of the variations of the Log Cabin block. 

While my maternal grandmother was still in high school, she interviewed her father, James Lynch, at the urging of her older brother Will, who was living in China at the time.  (Read his letter to her here.)  Later, she wrote a biography of her father from the notes she'd taken during the interview.  Following is the eighth part of this biography:

"After his discharge, he returned to Illinois and worked for a Mr. Countryman at Linnville, Illinois.  He liked Mr. Countryman very much and had letters from him after coming to Kansas.  At Ogle County of Illinois in the town of Oregon, he applied for naturalization papers and became a citizen of the United States on November 9, 1866.  Two witnesses were present - John Rutledge and E. F. Dutchen.  The presiding judge was M. N. Heaton."

 - by Hazel Lynch Skonberg, James Lynch's daughter

   "Be it Remembered, That on the ninth day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-Six, personally appeared before the Honorable M. N. Heaton, Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court of the County of Ogle and State aforesaid . . . James Lynch an alien born, free, white, male person, above the age of twenty-one years, and applied to the said Court to be admitted to become a naturalized citizen of the United States of America . . .
     "And the said James Lynch having thereupon produced to the Court competent and satisfactory testimony showing that he had heretofore enlisted in the Army of the United States and that he has been honorably discharged therefrom and he having first filed his petition and declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the United States, according to the provisions of the said several Acts of Congress, and the Court being satisfied, as well from the oath of the said James Lynch as from the testimony of E. F. Dutchen and John Rutledge who are known to be citizens of the United States, that the said applicant has resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for at least one year, and one year last past within the State of Illinois; that during the whole of that time he has sustained a good moral character, and appeared to be attached to the principles contained in the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to good order, well being and happiness of the same.
     "It is thereupon Considered, Ordered, and Adjudged by the Court, That the said James Lynch be admitted to all and singular, the rights, privileges and immunities of a naturalized citizen of the United States, and that the same be certified by the Clerk of this Court, under the Seal of said Court accordingly."

 Are you interested in reading more about my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt?  You'll find it all right here.

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

Grandmother's Own Quilt Block and Walking Wednesdays

u

Grandmother's Own Quilt Block

 

Walking Wednesdays is a new weekly feature of my blog, focusing on my walks and the sites that I see along the way throughout the week.  Of course, I will tie each walking adventure into a quilt block! 

 

  

I had the best ever walking partners this week - my lovely daughter-in-law and my very first grandchild!  It was such a treat to get to take an after-dinner walk with them on a trail near their home.  

 

The path is a rail-trail - a trail made from former rail lines.  Because these former tracks are flat and long and often through scenic areas, they make ideal trails for walking, biking, and even horseback riding.  "Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., whose mission it is to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people."  

 

Do you have a rail-trail near your home?  There are more than 20,000 miles of rail-trail throughout the United States.  Click here to find trails in your state.

 

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

Yankee Puzzle Quilt Block

This 12" Yankee Puzzle quilt block is the seventh block of my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt.  It was originally published in 1929 by Ruth Finley in her book Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them.  This pattern also goes by other names - Hour Glass, Pork and Beans, The Whirling Blade, and Big Dipper.  The pattern plus in-depth historical information by Barbara Brackman can be found here.  Her directions are for an 8" finished block.  I made my block 12" by starting out with 7-1/4" squares of each color instead of her 5-1/4" squares.  Each square is then cut twice diagonally to create the four triangles of each color.      

While my maternal grandmother was still in high school, she interviewed her father, James Lynch, at the urging of her older brother Will, who was living in China at the time.  (Read his letter to her here.)  Later, she wrote a biography of her father from the notes she'd taken during the interview.  Following is the seventh part of this biography:

"On August 12, 1862, James enlisted and joined the Company G of the Illinois Volunteer 74th Infantry on the side of the North in the Civil War.*  His commander was General Thomas, whom he liked.  Some of the battles he fought in were:  Cableorchard (the first one), Peachtree Creek, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Francisville, Liberty Gap, and Perryville.  He was never wounded, but a bullet hit his canteen and he lost all of his drinking water.  He and his comrades were hungry many times.  They were sent out to forage from the farms around them.  Once he and another soldier tried to rob a bee tree, with many stings and little honey.  After the war, he was discharged at Nashville, Tennessee on June 10, 1865."
   
  - by Hazel Lynch Skonberg, James Lynch's daughter 

* Very specific details about Company G of the Illinois Volunteer 74th Infantry and the battles they fought in may be found here on pages 228-233.

James Lynch, Private in Company G of the 74th Illinois Infantry
Union Army, Civil War

Hardtack was a biscuit made of flour with other simple ingredients, and issued to Union soldiers throughout the war.  Hardtack crackers made up a large portion of a soldier's daily ration.  Large factories in the North baked hundreds of hardtack crackers every day, packed them in wooden crates and shipped them out by wagon or rail.  If the hardtack was received soon after leaving the factory, they were quite tasty and satisfying.  Usually, the hardtack did not get to the soldiers until months after it had been made.  By that time, they were very hard, so hard that soldiers called them tooth dullers and sheet iron crackers.  Sometimes they were infested with small bugs the soldiers called weevils, so they referred to the hardtack as "worm castles" because of the many holes bored through the crackers by these pests. Soldiers were usually allowed six to eight crackers for a three-day ration.  There were a number of ways to eat them - plain or prepared with other ration items. Soldiers would crumble them into coffee or soften them in water and fry the hardtack with some bacon grease.

Union Hardtack Recipe
2 cups of flour
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon of Crisco or vegetable fat

6 pinches of salt

1.  Mix the ingredients together into a stiff batter.  Knead several times and spread the dough out flat to a thickness of ½” on an ungreased cookie sheet.
2.  Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
3.  Remove from oven, cut dough into 3-inch squares, and punch four rows of holes, four holes per row into the dough.
4.  Turn dough over, return to the oven and bake another 30 minutes.
5.  Turn oven off and leave the door closed. Leave the hardtack in the oven until
cool. Remove and enjoy!

James Lynch's Discharge Papers from the Union Army

Illinois Civil War Detail Report
Name:  James Lynch
Rank:  Private
Company:  G
Unit:  74 Illinois US Infantry

Personal Characteristics:
Residence:  Monroe, Ogle County, Illinois
Age:  28
Height:  5'11-1/2"
Hair:  Dark
Eyes:  Blue
Complexion:  Light
Marital Status:  Single
Occupation:  Farmer
Nativity:  Clonmel, Tipperary, Ireland

Service Record:
Joined When:  August 12, 1862
Joined Where:  Linnville, Illinois
Joined By Whom:  E. F. Dutcher
Period:  3 years
Muster In:  September 4, 1862
Muster Out:  June 10, 1865
Muster Out Where:  Nashville, Tennessee
Muster Out By Whom:  Captain Chickering

 Are you interested in reading more about my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt?  You'll find it all right here.

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post

Morning Quilt Block and Eating a Home Cooked Breakfast with Eleanor and Nell

Morning Quilt Block

For the month of June, the Quilters' Book Club is reading and discussing The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue.  It's the first book in her Someday Quilts Mystery Series. 

In the book, main character Nell doesn't have very many skills in the kitchen.  She says to her grandmother Eleanor, "I don't know how to make pancakes.  I know how to make frozen waffles."

Eleanor replies, "Well, you'll learn how to make pancakes today. . . You eat, don't you?  I don't know why people go around talking about how independent they are and then don't know how to take care of themselves in the most basic way.  Get out the griddle." from page 184 The Lover's Knot

Here's another breakfast recipe Nell might enjoy learning how to make:

  Coffee Cake

¼ cup salad oil
1 egg, beaten
½ cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
1-1/2 cups flour

Spicy Topping:
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon melted butter
½ cup broken nuts

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Combine salad oil, egg, and milk.
3.  In a separate bowl, combine baking powder, salt, sugar, and flour. 
4.  Add dry ingredients to milk mixture and stir well.
5.  Pour into greased 9 x 9 x 2 inch pan.
6.  Combine Spicy Topping ingredients.  Sprinkle over coffee cake.  Bake about 25 minutes.

What breakfast item would you teach Nell to make?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Answer in the comments section below.  (If you are reading via email, click on the title at the top of the post so you can comment and read the comments of others.)  And I'd love it if you would send me the recipe, so I can include it in a post!  Send it to starwoodquilter@gmail.com.

*****Author Clare O'Donohue's book publicist contacted me and wanted to know if the Quilters' Book Club would be interested in a live Twitter chat with Clare.  I don't know how many of you are familiar with Twitter and need to know how to respond to the publicist.  Is this something you would want to participate in?  Please answer in the comments section.*****
 
By commenting, you are entering your name in a giveaway for a $20 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop, courtesy of the Fat Quarter Shop!  The more posts you comment on, the greater your chance of winning.  Winner will be announced July 1!

You might also enjoy reading my previous blogpost here. 

Gold Nuggets Quilt Block

This 12" Gold Nuggets quilt block is the sixth block of my Irish Great Grandfather Sampler Quilt.  I found the pattern for it at Block Base.  A note said that the center should be yellow.  There are four Y seams in this block, so I hesitated making it.  I'm glad I did, though.  It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.  I sewed all four green diagonal seams first and then stitched around all four sides of the yellow square.   

While my maternal grandmother was still in high school, she interviewed her father, James Lynch, at the urging of her older brother Will, who was living in China at the time.  (Read his letter to her here.)  Later, she wrote a biography of her father from the notes she'd taken during the interview.  Following is the sixth part of this biography:

"They (James and brothers Thomas and Patrick) panned gold around Sutter's Mill (Coloma), Yuba City and Marysville.  Life was dangerous, and robbing and killing for gold were common.  Supplies were scarce and expensive.  A plug of tobacco was five dollars and boots fifteen dollars.  Gamblers took over.  James panned almost $2000 in gold nuggets and gravel.  He kept it in a leather pouch tied around his waist at all times.  His brothers had almost as much as he did but lost it all when the bank president left for New York with all the depositors' money.

"In 1859, James and his brothers returned by the same route to New York.  James then went to Illinois where he got work as a farm hand."

  - by Hazel Lynch Skonberg, James Lynch's daughter
 
 Are you interested in reading more about my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt?  You'll find it all right here.

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

Events in The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue



Lover's Knot Quilt Block


For the month of June, the Quilters' Book Club is reading and discussing The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue.  It's the first book in her Someday Quilts Mystery Series. 

Some of us are also creating a quilt block to go with each book that we're reading.  I've researched some free quilt patterns to go along with the events in this book:

Nell Receiving Her Wedding Quilt:
http://www.quilterscache.com/L/LoversKnotBlock.html

Another Lover's Knot Quilt Block

Meetings of the Friday Night Quilt Group:
http://www.quilterscache.com/C/CalicoSpoolsBlock.html

http://www.quilterscache.com/N/NotionsBlock.html

http://www.quilterscache.com/S/SpoolBlock.html

 

Calico Spools Quilt Block

 

Spool Quilt Block

 

Murder of Handyman Marc Reed:

http://www.quilterscache.com/C/CarpentersWheelBlock.html

http://www.quilterscache.com/C/CarpentersSquareBlock.html

 

Nell and Chief of Police Jesse Dewalt Working to Solve the Mystery:

http://www.quilterscache.com/M/MysteryBlock.html

 

Mystery Quilt Block

 

Have you ever participated in making a mystery quilt?  in a murder mystery dinner?  played the board game Clue?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Please answer in the comment section below.  (If you are reading via email, click on the title at the top of the post so you can comment and read the comments of others.)  Remember, there is no right or wrong answer.  We'd just love to hear your ideas!

On a side note, Google is ending their Google Reader on July 1.  I would encourage you to click the Bloglovin' link at the top right side of my post to conveniently be able to read new blog posts.
 
By commenting, you are entering your name in a giveaway for a $20 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop, courtesy of Fat Quarter Shop!  The more posts you comment on, the greater your chance of winning.  Winner will be announced July 1!

You might also enjoy reading my previous blogpost here.

Panama Block Quilt Block

This 12" Panama Block quilt block, originally published by Nancy Cabot, is the fifth block of my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt.  I found the pattern for it at Block Base.  This block pattern is also known as Mexican Star and Mexican Rose.  A pattern for a 16" Mexican Star block is available free online here.  A pattern for a 12" Mexican Rose block is available free online here.

While my maternal grandmother was still in high school, she interviewed her father, James Lynch, at the urging of her older brother Will, who was living in China at the time.  (Read his letter to her here.)  Later, she wrote a biography of her father from the notes she'd taken during the interview.  Following is the fifth part of this biography:

"In January 1854, James, Thomas, and Patrick left from New York for California by the Nicaragua Route.  They sailed the Atlantic to the Isthmus of Panama and then rode across on mules to the Pacific side.  The Atlantic trip was rough, but the Pacific side was smooth sailing."

- by Hazel Lynch Skonberg,
James Lynch's daughter

The California Gold Rush began when James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California on January 24, 1848.  Some 300,000 people flocked to California, hoping to get their share of the gold.  There was no easy way to get to California.  About half of the people came by sea.  From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take five to eight months.  The alternative that James and his brothers chose was to sail to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama, take mules for a week through the jungle, and then wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco once they got on the Pacific side.  About half of the gold seekers came from the east by land along the California Trail and the Gila River Trail.  Each of these routes to California, whether by land or by sea, had its own difficulties, from shipwreck to typhoid fever to cholera.   

 Are you interested in reading more about this quilt?  You'll find it all right here.

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

Chokecherry Leaf Quilt Block and Chokecherries Around Starwood in June

Chokecherries are in various stages of blooming around my yard.



 

 

Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies by Linda Kershaw says that chokecherries "were among the most important berries for many tribes  They were collected after the first frost (which makes them sweeter) and were dried or cooked, often as an addition to pemmican or stews.  Large quantities were collected, pulverized with rocks, formed into patties about 6" in diameter and 3/4" thick and dried for winter use.  Today chokecherries are used to make jelly, syrup, sauce, and wine.  The raw cherries are sour and astringent, so they cause a puckering or choking sensation when they are eaten - hence the name 'chokecherry.'  After they have been cooked or dried, however, they are much sweeter and lose their astringency."

Chokecherries were also used by Native American tribes as medicine.  They used it "to improve appetite and relieve diarrhea and bloody discharge of the bowels."  They used the inner bark to make into a tea that was used for "treating diarrhea, heart and lung problems, stimulating sweating, reducing fevers and expelling worms.  It was also added to drops, syrups and medicines for soothing coughs."



In late summer, I try to pick the dark red chokecherries before the bears get them! 

 

Chokecherry Pancake Syrup

1.  Gather chokecherries, remove all stems, and wash.

2.  Measure the amount of berries.  Put berries in a saucepan, adding half as much water as you have berries.  (Example 3 cups water to 6 cups berries.)  Simmer for 15 minutes.

3.  Crush fruit with potato masher as it softens.  Drain through a moistened jelly bag.

4.  Measure the amount of juice.  Use equal amount of sugar as juice.  Bring juice and sugar to a rolling boil for about 15 minutes. 

5.  Put in sterilized jars and seal with lids.  Process in water bath for 10 minutes.  (You may need to adjust this time if you live at high altitude.)

 

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.
 

Cotton Boll Quilt Block

This 12" Cotton Boll quilt block is the fourth block of my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt.  I found the pattern for this quilt block free on-line here.  This pattern is for an 8" block, so I printed off the pattern on Block Base.           

While my maternal grandmother was still in high school, she interviewed her father, James Lynch, at the urging of her older brother Will, who was living in China at the time.  (Read his letter to her here.)  Later, she wrote a biography of her father from the notes she'd taken during the interview.  Following is the fourth part of this biography:  

"When they came to America, they started working in a cotton mill in Fall River, Massachusetts.  James was given the job of putting the wooden spindles of thread on the pegs.*  He was given the job for one day to see if he could do the work.  He did it so well that he was given the job permanently.  That was when he was still twelve years old.  He earned six dollars a month and stayed for a year.  The three brothers and three sisters lived together in a frame tenement house that was barely furnished.  They slept on the floor.  Some worked nights, some days.  The work shifts were twelve hours.

"They then went to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and the boys did farm work.  Later, sister Ellen married James Main.  They lived at Oak Grove and later at Juneau, Wisconsin.  Sister Mary married Alonzo Wagner in Beaver Dam and later moved to Reading, Kansas."
       - by Hazel Lynch Skonberg, James Lynch's daughter

*James would have been known as a doffer for the work he did in the cotton mill.  A doffer was someone who cleared the full bobbins or spindles holding the spun cotton and replaced them with empty ones.  Although the day was long, doffers only worked for about four hours each day.  In 1830, a doffer boy in Massachusetts would earn 25 cents a day.    

“In the cotton mills, children were good at monotonous repetitive tasks that often required little physical strength, but where small bodies and nimble fingers were an advantage.  Girls started as spinners while boys were doffers and sweepers.  When the bobbins on the spinning frames were full, the machinery stopped.  The doffers would swam into the mill and, as quickly as possible, change all the bobbins, after which the machinery would be restarted and the doffers were free to amuse themselves until the next change-over.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doffer

Are you interested in reading more about this quilt?  You'll find it all right here.   

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

Main Characters of The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue

Grandmother's Choice Quilt Block

For the month of June, the Quilters' Book Club is reading and discussing The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue.  We'd love to have you join us!  Check the book out of your local library, and you're in!

The main character in the book is twenty-six-year-old Nell Fitzgerald.  At the beginning of the book, her fiancé calls off their wedding.  She flees to her grandmother's home for comfort.  If you'd like to create a quilt block that represents them, I found some free patterns on the internet:

Nell Fitzgerald:
Broken Heart Quilt Block

Grandmother Eleanor:
Grandmother's Choice Quilt Block

Grandmother's Choice Quilt Block 2

Grandmother's Cross Quilt Block

Grandmother's Favorite Quilt Block

Grandmother's Fan Quilt Block

Barney the dog:
Dog Quilt

Are you a dog person, a cat person, or neither?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Please answer in the comment section below.  (If you are reading via email, click on the title at the top of the post so you can comment and read the comments of others.)  Remember, there is no right or wrong answer.  We'd just love to hear your ideas!

On a side note, Google is ending their Google Reader on July 1.  I would encourage you to click the Bloglovin' link at the top right side of my post to conveniently be able to read new blog posts.
 
By commenting, you are entering your name in a giveaway for a $20 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop, courtesy of the Fat Quarter Shop.  The more posts you comment on, the greater your chance of winning.  Winner will be announced July 1!

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.