Friday, November 22, 2013

Aunt Jane of Kentucky "How Sam Amos Rode in the Tournament" and Grape Basket Quilt Block


In the Quilters' Book Club this month, we're reading Aunt Jane of Kentucky by Eliza Calvert Hall, written in 1898.  If you have a Kindle or a Kindle app, you can get it from Amazon.com here.  If you want to read it directly from your computer, you can do so here, courtesy of Project Gutenberg.  It's a public domain book so is available free in either format. 

This book consists of nine short stories.  Each story is told by Aunt Jane in a humorous way that is full of wisdom.  The seventh story in the book is called "How Sam Amos Rode in the Tournament" and is only twenty-four pages long.
It's about Aunt Jane's memories of going to the Warren County fair and is an enjoyable, quick read.  If you'd like to make the Grape Basket quilt block to represent this short story, you can find the pattern here.

 
This Corn and Beans quilt block would be another fun one to make to represent this story about the county fair.  You can find the pattern here.

I looked up more about Goshen in Warren County:  "The Goshen District of Warren County in 1880 ran from the southern edge of Bowling Green all the way to the Allen County line. It was on the southern side of Barren River. Today that area is the Alvaton and Green Hill communities." source

I also found out some information about the author, Eliza Calvert Hall.  She used a pen name, a combination of her own maiden name and her grandmother's maiden name.  Her real name was Eliza Caroline Calvert Obenchain, but she went by the nickname of "Lida" all her life.  She was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1856 and died in Texas in 1935.  In addition to being a writer, she was also a women's rights advocate and suffragist.  She attended Western Female Seminary in Oxford, Ohio and later married the president of Ogden College, Major William Alexander Obenchain.  They had four children. 

In December, the book selection for the Quilters' Book Club is The Christmas Quilt: an Elm Creek Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini.  It's realistic fiction set in Pennsylvania and perfect for this time of year!  Get it now from your library or local bookstore and join us in reading and discussing this book. 

If you wrote a book, would you use your own name or a pen name.  Inquiring minds want to know!  Please reply in the comments sections below for a chance to win a copy of Jennifer Chiaverini's just-released book, An Elm Creek Quilts Companion, courtesy of Plume Books.  If you are reading this via email, you must click on the title of my blog post to be able to comment and read the comments of others. 


You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

8 comments:

  1. IF I ever wrote a book ....I never thought of about my name ... it has been Julie Fukuda for over fifty years ... but then someone might judge it thinking I am Japanese so my name might be mis-leading.My maiden name is easy to mess up so I wouldn't want to use that.Well, not likely I will write a book but if it were about Scouting, I would have to use the "Fukuda" because among Scouts and Scouters, I am well known by that name. Guess I'll spend my time quilting. I like those food prints and use them often ... but not yet like that.

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  2. I think I would use a pen name. No real explanation for my choice. Just prefer it.

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  3. I would hope I was so proud of the story that I would want everyone to know it was me. My first thought was pen, but then I would have to decide what it would be. Just easier to go by my own name. I have had for many years.

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  4. I can't envision writing a book, but I think I'd stick with my real name.

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  5. As with Nancy. I hope, I too, would be very proud of any book written that I would want everyone to know it was me. So my name it would be.
    I can't ever see me writing a book though.

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  6. I would use my own name. It would be a great source of satisfaction to me to complete such a task.

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