I have long said that if my dad had been born 100 years earlier we would have been on a wagon train going West. After a childhood of imagining that revisionist history, I eventually came to the conclusion that I would make a terrible pioneer. I cannot keep track of my needles!
If you think about it, a needle is a very important tool. In a world where you have to make almost everything you need to take care of your tools. Some things you can make or repair, a new handle for the axe, a new edge on the plowshare. A good blacksmith can make nails and forks. But needles? Needles are another story. I haven't researched how needles were made pre-Industrial Revolution. There were stages between sharpening bone and post Industrial Revolution machine production. Even historic needles are fine. From reading diaries of the women who traveled the Oregon Trail I've learned that a needle was a precious commodity.
And I am notorious for losing my needles. I try not to lose them in carpets and furniture and am successful for the most part but where they actually go? I have no idea. And so I would make a terrible pioneer. My clothes would be ragged and the canvas on my tent would be un-patched. It would not be pretty.
So my stitch in time quilt is a nod to those brave women who packed their precious things in a covered wagon and headed west, needle in hand, to face a vast unknown landscape.
The image is of the interior of a covered wagon. Notice the fancy chair, spinning wheel, butter churn and what looks to be boxes of silverware and likely other tools. I love the pretty dresses hanging on the pegs.
The picture is printed on fabric and is embellished with embroidery floss. The binding is a ruffle (new technique for me) made of a modern calico fabric. It measures approximately 8 x 10 inches. This quilt continues my Western Expansion theme for the Project Quilting challenges this year.
You can read more about Project Quilting and check out all the amazing quilts made this week on Kim Lapacek's Blog.
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