After a day of honoring our presidents, it’s time to talk about their first ladies.  And what better way to pay tribute to these historic women than through quilting.

Eleanor Burns, self-proclaimed “First Lady of Quilting,” presented not once, but twice, her one woman lecture extravaganza, Tales of the First Ladies at Road to California this year. For two hours, Eleanor had her guests laughing, singing, and acting out fun facts mixed with quilting inspiration. By far, it was the rowdiest quilt presentation of the conference.

Twelve inch blocks created from traditional, antique fabric reproductions made up Eleanor’s “Quilt in a Day,” Tales of First Ladies . The famous women chosen to be represented in the various quilt designs and techniques included Martha Washington, Lucy Hayes, Frances Cleveland, Dolly Madison, Anna Harrison, Mary Lincoln, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor also shared additional quilts she has collected over the years representing the eras in which the women served. 

Eleanor had lots of trivia to share, information on each of the first ladies before they moved to the white house and during their tenure there.  Some of our favorite facts included:

Martha Washington- sewed buttons on the soldiers’ uniforms when they were in the battlefield.

Lucy Hayes- nicknamed “Lemonade Lucy” because of the “no alcohol” policy in the White House. She got all the blame for what her husband actually instituted.

Frances Cleveland- was 21 when she became first lady and is best known for opening the White House to the public on Saturdays.

Anna Harrison- her husband won the election but died before they could occupy the White House. Later on, her grandson became President, making him the first of their family to actually live there.

Mary Lincoln– her dresses were made out of 35 yards of fabric!!!

Thank you Eleanor Burns for highlighting, with such charm and showmanship, the women in the white house.  

Do you have a Valentine tradition?

Carolyn has one that she has been observing for the past 50 years. She makes a Maraschino Cherry Cake for her family.  She uses heart shaped pans to bake the cake in and serves it to her family to celebrate Valentines Day.  When she was asked, “Is there a special reason why you make this cake?” her reply was simple: “Because it is good!!” Here is the recipe for Carolyn’s family’s traditional valentine cake.  Maybe you will want to make it for your family on Valentines Day too.

Carolyn’s Maraschino Cherry Cake

2-1/2 cups flour

1-1/2 cups sugar

3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening or butter

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons almond flavoring

4 egg whites, unbeaten

18 maraschino cherries, finely chopped

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Sift flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in to a bowl. Combine juice and milk. Add 3/4 cup of this mixture with the flavorings. Beat for 2 minutes. Add the remaining liquid and the egg whites. Beat for 2 more minutes. Add the cherries and the nuts. Blend.  Bake in two, deep 9 inch layer pans (heart shaped ones if you have them) at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

For the icing, beat together 1 cube butter, 1 box powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, 2 tablespoons maraschino juice, vanilla and almond flavoring.  Chopped cherries can be added to the frosting. Carolyn usually garnishes the cake with the cherries instead of adding them to the frosting. 

No matter how you spend it,  the Reese family wishes you a delightful Valentines Day.

2013 Road to California Entry 

What color says valentine to you? Is it the traditional red? Or formal black and white? Could it be hip yellow? Or a sultry blue?  At Road to California, we would have to say pink, as in the Pink! Exhibit. 

Curated by Cindy Rennels of Cindy’s Antique Quilts, the Pink! Exhibit featured 16 antique quilts in various hues and patterns of pink from Cindy’s own collection. The quilts were dated from the 1880’s to the 1940’s.  A couple of  years ago, Cindy had seen The December National Rodeo Finals from Las Vegas. What impressed Cindy was seeing all the “macho cowboy riders” wearing pink in commemoration of breast cancer awareness. Their theme, “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” inspired Cindy to come up with a pink and white quilt page on her web site.     

Last fall, Carolyn approached Cindy to create an exhibit featuring only pink quilts just for Road. Cindy wanted the exhibit to reflect more than just a color.  She wanted the feel of pink . She researched the different definitions that described pink and came up with passion, love, femininity, practical, and pretty. She also found out some cool pink facts. Did you know that in the early 1900’s, pink was the color for boys, not the blue that we associate with them today?  Apparently, pink was considered the stronger color of the two. I wonder when it changed?  And were you aware that it was Mamie Eisenhower who brought pink to the White House, using it as a theme in one of the bedrooms?  

While pink isn’t exactly a predominant color used in quilts today, Cindy noted that several conference goers remarked to her that seeing the exhibit inspired them to want to use it in their next quilt projects. It was fun for Cindy to see all the pink quilts put together in one group with their various patterns and designs. She was glad these quilts were exhibited, shown, and enjoyed by others. 

How do you feel about pink?

“Quilts Celebrate Rites of Passage.” That’s what guest lecturer, Julie Silber, pointed out in her Saturday evening presentation, “Keeping Them in Stitches.” Quilts tell stories of the women who made them and of the people those women lived with. They often represent values that are important to society: babies, marriages, friendships, social organizations, religions, and death.

Making and sharing handmade quilts for life events has been a familiar tradition for generations. It is a tradition that is understood by young and old alike. Just recently, a local elementary school was celebrating its’ 60^th anniversary and part of that celebration included presenting a patchwork quilt depicting the schools’ milestones.

Sometimes, quilts intended to honor special events, fall a little short in design and execution.  Julie pointed out, that just as with life, quilts aren’t always perfect and some of those imperfections can lend themselves to some pretty humorous results. She spent well over an hour amusing her audience by sharing photos from quilts spanning 60 years (from the late 1800’s to the 1940’s) that depicted the shortcomings of their creators. Whether it was unusual color combinations, mismatched patterns, or silly messages embroidered in the quilt, Julie’s examples reminded everyone that just because things don’t go as planned, you can still have a rich experience.  

The next time your quilt project doesn’t turn out exactly how you expected, don’t get discouraged. It’s story will still be appreciated – one way or another.  

What story does your quilt tell?

Quilt challenges can come from really strange sources.

Take the Road to California Exhibit, Power Suits.  When art quilter, teacher and lecturer, Cyndi  Souder (www.moonlightingquilts.com)  was approached by a local tailor looking for someone to give his outdated fabric swatches to, her creative juices starting flowing and a quilt challenge was born. Teaming with JudyGula  of Artistic Artifacts,  they developed a theme, packaged the swatches, and offered them for free to interested quilters. 

Living in Washington D.C., the theme, “Power Suits,” was an obvious choice. Prospective quilters were asked, “What does power suits mean to you?” Based on their interpretation, 105 artists created 108 magnificent art quilts expressing their points of view.  The resulting quilts explored such diverse topics as politics, family, work life, playing cards, and super heroes.

The exhibit opened in October, 2011 and was originally housed at Artistic Artifacts Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.  Then, beginning in March, 2012, “Power Suits” became a traveling exhibit. 

Road to California is excited and proud to present “Power Suits” at this year’s conference.   

What does “power suits” mean to you? 

 Pictures courtesy of http://www.powersuitquilts.com/

With so much to offer at Road to California, you might just miss out on some of the best kept secrets of the show.  Here are a couple tidbits that you won’t want to pass by:

Sit in on Lectures- Maybe you don’t have time for an entire class. Or the class you wanted to attend is sold out.  You still want to learn some techniques or improve your skills. Attending a lecture might be just what you are looking for. Lectures are designed as an intimate opportunity to hear from our experts on a specific topic.  They are informal and encourage questions and comments so that everyone benefits from sharing information. Most lectures cost between $10 and $40 to attend and last one to two hours long. 

Support Special Speakers- After wandering around the convention center hour after glorious hour,  you think you’re done and want to call it a day. Don’t you dare. Because if you do, you’ll really miss out.  End each day listening to amazing presenters sharing their insights on current trends and interesting topics.  This year, we’ve scheduled some really special speakers: Thursday night features Angela Walters www.quiltingismytherapy.com and Emily Cier www.carolinapatchworks.com talking on the world of Modern Quilting. 

 Angela Walters                                                                                                               Emily Cier

Friday night join Eleanor Burns www.quiltinaday.com as she tells the stories of America’s First Ladies and the quilt blocks that have been designed to honor them. If you can’t make Ms. Burns’ presentation on Friday, there is always Saturday morning when she will be repeating her lecture.

And on Saturday night, nationally known lecturer, author, consultant, and curator, Julie Silber, will be sharing her insights in to the light — and more serious side of “Quilts as Therapy.” What is so compelling about quilts, how they can figure into addiction and compulsion, and how they function as healers? 

Secrets are meant to be shared and we couldn’t resist sharing ours with you.

Have you found any other secret gems at Road?