The Best Polyester Quilt Ever

My friend Carol Ingenthron showed off this quilt at guild this month. I nominate it for best polyester quilt ever!

It comes with a great story. Carol's grandma, Nina Unruh, made these back in the 1970's in Enid, Oklahoma. She made one for each of her nine grandchildren, plus more for future grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were cleaning our Carol's mom's house recently and found 2 more (the quilt shown is one of them) so those are going to her granddaughters ... She also made many, many more quilts for overseas missions through the Mennonite church in Enid.

The quilt is large - it measures 86" x 72". Each block is about 7" square. It's tied with yarn and backed with flannel. Notice the pillowcase style edge (no binding).

What I really really love about this quilt is the very bright colors. And it's clear the strips were cut with scissors, which adds to the wonky wonder.

Thanks to Carol for sharing all this with all of us!

Close-up view of the pillow-case edge and flannel back

Rag Darlings

Dolls. You either love them or not. I fall into the category of loving them, so working on a book about them was a joy for me.

And now you can enjoy it too! Hot off the press is Gloria Nixon's latest book, Rag Darlings.

Gloria combines her talents as a researcher, historian and collector extraordinaire to tell the story of dolls. The history is fascinating, as are the photos of all the dolls and doll ephemera in her collection. And she keeps collecting! She is showing off her latest Aunt Jemima here, one that arrived after the book was done.

I had the pleasure of delivering some dolls to her recently. She let me photograph her feedsacks on hand. I'd also like to report that she is one of the most fun, dearest people on the planet. Her home is nestled in a dream-like spot in our beautiful Flint Hills.

Do run out and get your copy of Rag Darlings today, you won't regret it. I predict and hope that Gloria has many more books in her future ...