Brief History of Quilting, part 1

 When we think of quilts, we most often picture bed coverings comprised of cut pieces of colorful fabric stitched together in pleasing patterns. But possibly the two oldest quilts are from 14th century Sicily and are of white whole cloth, not pieced, and contain both intricate quilting and trapunto, a technique where cording is used to increase and define the raised surface.  The craftsmanship denotes skilled workers who designed and stitched scenes from the legend of Tristan and Isolde. Both quilts are in museums—one in Bargello Museum in Florence, and the other in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

photo credit Geta's Quilt Studio

During the Crusades, Europeans discovered Turkish soldiers wore quilted garments under their armor. Multiple layers of fabric with a lining provided both warmth and padding. The fashion soon migrated to Europe, especially the northern countries. Able seamstresses easily saw the benefit of using the technique for bed coverings. Although only the rich could have bought fabric with the intention of sewing a quilt, resourceful and thrifty housewives would have saved fabric wherever it could be found.

credit Pinterest

The practice crossed the ocean with the colonists, especially from countries like England, France, Holland, and Italy. The earliest surviving American quilts were calamancos made of whole cloth, usually a wool top (often imported) layered with wool batting and a home-woven linen or linsey-woolsey backing. The most common quilting pattern was large plumes. Cloth was most commonly imported from England and France until the early 19th century when American mills started producing cheap printed cotton fabric. Quilts of this time were often medallion style with a patchwork center surrounded by multiple borders.

The heroine of my latest release, Holle, is a quilter and a quilt needing repair is the way the hero and heroine meet.

Blurb for Holle, book 4 in Christmas Quilt Brides multi-author series.

Holle Berthold thinks love is a curse. Her first fiancé died, and the second one jilted her two days before the wedding. Then the man who funded her train ticket to Montana as a mail-order bride rejected her because of her partial deafness. Abandoned, she must find a job.

Widower Eduard Lambrecht discovers his late wife’s Christmas quilt is damaged. At the seamstress shop, he learns the woman to repair it is also the mail-order bride his cousin rejected. Can their bruised hearts dare to try again?

Amazon link

This novella is featured in N.N. Light’s Wintertime Reading Bookish Event. Click here to learn about all the books and enter to win a $10 Amazon gift card. 

The Sheriff's Bride

Introducing: 

The Sheriff's Bride

Come on in to Solomon's Valley 

Welcome back to Solomon's Valley in Montana for a story about fathers and sons and mothers and daughters against the backdrop of 1883 Montana.

Sheriff Levi Smith came to Shirleyville but was too late to settle with the past. Then circumstances force him to reveal the reason he'd come to town and risk upsetting the feuding families all over again. Somewhere along the way, he noticed Eve, and she took his attention not to mention his heart.

Eve longed to be loved. Oh, she had a mother all right, but Mabel had given her strict orders to never mention to anyone that she was Eve's mother. Sheriff Levi catches Eve's attention, but Bridgette Howard has her eyes on Levi, too. Desperate, Eve turns to Walters and thinks he might be the answer. He's older but rich. either way, he offers a way out.


Add to the mix Rachel and the judge's children and their shenanigans, the feuding families, and a killing in the town and Levi is busy.

Although The Sheriff's Bride is a stand alone book, you might also want to read The Judge's Bride and Zebulon's Bride.

****And I thought the series was done, but Bridgette informed me there will be another book. Next year the series continues with Bridgette's Man.

~~~~~

Here's a brief sample 
Chapter 1

Sheriff Levi Smith stuffed the worn letter in his pocket while at the same time trying to shove away the regret that haunted him. The letter was the reason he’d come to Shirleyville over a year ago, and even then, he’d been too late. He reminded himself that the past was usually best left behind especially when the reason he’d come was already dead.

Levi stepped out of the jail and wiped sweat from his brow. With a wary eye, he looked up and down the dusty street of the small Montana town to get a feel for what the day would bring. The weather was warm and promising to get hotter.

A look at The Gilded Lady Saloon and seeing the Murphy’s wagon outside signaled trouble was possible. The good news was he didn’t see Bridgette Howard anywhere. He hoped she’d stay in the dress shop and leave him alone. She was the one pushing his past into the future. Sooner or later, he was going to have to tell the judge the real reason for his coming to Shirleyville.

Fending off Bridgette’s advances was taking too much time, but right now, his business of the day was to meet the train that carried Judge Taggart and his wife Rachel. They were returning from their honeymoon in Europe. Levi was glad that they had finally taken the trip as they had postponed it for nearly a year to get the ten children settled in their new home. That Shirleyville now had a train depot made things convenient.

Unfortunately, gold seekers were flooding in and causing more trouble. Men on the raw edge of despair flocked to the area in search of gold while never considering it might take hard work. Some would go to the mines to work for the big companies and eke an existence from the rock. Many gave up looking for gold honestly and took up with the outlaws hiding in the canyons south of town.

Levi pulled out his pocket watch and flipped the lid just as the train blasted a whistle. He ran to the station and hoped Bridgette wouldn’t find him. Now that the feud between the Howards and the Murphys had settled down, Bridgette was the one causing trouble. Levi wasn’t sure who to be sorrier for, the girl or the Murphys. According to her, they treated her like a slave, but when he asked Ben Murphy, he reported that she acted like a queen, and they were the ones waiting on her. Levi figured the truth played out somewhere between the two drastic views.

He turned the corner to the depot and ran up the stairs just as the train pulled into the station and stopped. The train continued to chug spewing smoke and steam as the conductor stepped down and helped the passengers disembark.

A couple of men in business suits left the train. Farther down the tracks, two rough-looking cowboys jumped from a freight car. By the furtive looks they gave him, he’d have to keep an eye on their whereabouts and who, if anyone, they met with.

Since arriving, Levi had worked to make Shirleyville a peaceful town. But there were rumblings of trouble brewing among the store owners. Nothing specific, but enough that Levi kept a sharp eye on newcomers.

Levi stepped aside as a few families disembarked. He tipped his hat and nodded. Their faces shone fresh with the hope for a new life. He hoped it worked out for them. And then he hoped they weren’t those looking to come and pick gold nuggets off the ground. Montana was a good place, but it required hard work to make a living here.

Finally, the distinguished-looking Judge exited, waited, and helped Rachel step down to the platform. She was dressed in a frilly kind of hat, fancy dress, and shoes. She even had a parasol that matched her hat. The trip and being married to the judge had done her good. When Levi had first come to Shirleyville, she’d looked tired and worn. Now, she looked fresh and vibrant.

Levi held out his hand. “Glad to see you, Judge. You two look like you enjoyed the trip.” He hoped they had as he had news to give them that might not make them all too happy to be back.

Shaking his hand, the judge nodded. “Excellent trip. Wouldn’t you say, Rachel?”

She hugged his arm as she looked endearingly up at him. “The trip of a lifetime, dear.” She turned her gaze to Levi. “Everything is all right, isn’t it, Sheriff?”

“I rode out to the ranch this morning to make sure.” He scraped his boots on the wood platform. “There are a few things you need to be aware of.”

Judge Taggart narrowed his eyes. “Oh?”

“Will has been spending time at the Howards. I only know because Matt was complaining to me about it. Seems Will had chores he wasn’t doing. I’m not sure what arrangements you made with him, but you know he can be short-tempered.”

~~~~

Patricia PacJac Carroll~ I am a writer, Christian first, and blessed beyond my imagination. I live in the Dallas-Ft Worth area of Texas with my wonderful treasure of a husband, my spoiled dog, Jacs, and my awesome son, Josh. Did I say I was blessed? The PacJac is from my initials and my husbands. I wouldn't be able to write if it weren't for him. I love adventure and the open road. The stories of the western era have always been a favorite of mine. I enjoy writing, and my goal is to write stories readers will enjoy.


Sign up for my Newsletter~Friday Night at the Bookshelf, and receive notice when new books are available: http://eepurl.com/bpPmbP


Website http://www.pacjaccarroll.com/
Also on FB http://www.facebook.com/PatriciaPacJacCarrollAuthor
Twitter https://twitter.com/@PacJacEmail Patricia@pacjaccarroll.com
Newsletter http://eepurl.com/bpPmbP

Psalm 26:7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

Blog Tour Tuesday: A Begrudging Bride by Amelia C. Adams

I'm technically a day late for Blog Tour Tuesday, but if I don't point that out, no one will notice, right? And it will just be our little secret?

I'm very excited to announce the release of A Begrudging Bride, Kansas Crossroads Book Eleven. It never occurred to me that this series would take off like it has and that I'd have so much fun writing it even after this many installments. 

The blurb: 

Suddenly left an orphan and forced to leave behind her beloved Kentucky ranch, Camille Waterford answers an ad for a mail-order bride and begins her journey to Wichita, where she will begin her new life. When she reaches Topeka, however, she's plagued with doubt, and decides to remain where she is, taking a job at the Brody Hotel. She plans to pay her groom back for whatever he spent to bring her out west, but she just can't go through with the wedding. He's not happy when he hears the news, but she needs to find her own path and discover for herself what love really is. 

And now an excerpt: 

Camille Waterford clutched her reticule as the train pulled into the Topeka station. “We’ll be stopped for half an hour,” the conductor announced. “Feel free to get off, stretch your legs, and maybe eat a little something at the hotel, but listen for the whistle so we don’t leave you behind.”

Getting off the train sounded wonderful. In fact, there was nothing Camille would rather do. Gathering her skirts in one hand, she climbed down and stood on the platform. The sky was a bit overcast, but it wasn’t snowing like it had been in Kansas City. She paced along the edge of the platform, her stomach twisting and turning, and finally, she sank onto a bench near the station. She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t. She’d become more and more certain with each passing mile.

She rose from the bench and approached the ticket window. “Excuse me, sir. How do I get my luggage off the train?”

You may purchase A Begrudging Bride by CLICKING HERE.

***

 
Amelia C. Adams is the author of nineteen Western romances and will be releasing her twentieth very, very soon. She loves taking long naps, watching good movies, and eating tacos. If she could figure out a way to do all three at once, she would. She has a very full publication schedule coming up this next year and invites you to follow her website to stay on top of everything. Of course, the trick to that is making sure to update her website . . .

Matrimonial Offer--Latest New York Style (1851)

 

by Kristin Holt

TIMES WERE CHANGING

Courtship, in the Victorian-era (1837 through 1900) United States, was highly influenced by Society's expectations of "proper", influential writings of ministers, and the ease with which gossip easily damaged a person's reputation. Women (beyond the desperately poor) began working in telegraph offices, attending high schools and colleges, and still most wanted the stability and protection a good marriage would bring.

DECORUM AND PROPRIETY

Good manners expected certain behavior from decent young men (and not-so-young men) when courting and when asking a woman to marry him. The process typically asked permission to carry out a courtship (with the sole purpose to determine if marriage betwixt the pair would be a good fit) from the girl's father, brother, or other guardian.

MAIL ORDER BRIDES and CORRESPONDENCE COURTSHIPS turned the Victorian Ideal on its ear

Courtship, with all its niceties and proper methods of becoming acquainted could not occur with the late 19th Century Mail Order Bride (more accurately termed a Correspondence Courtship). Yet plenty of such marriages occurred and many succeeded.

Occasionally, someone devised a new twist on an Arranged Marriage, wherein the groom found himself a wife in a most unconventional way. I can hear the gasps of shocked outrage from Society's matrons when this "Latest New York Style" Matrimonial Offer appeared in the papers. While apparently originating in New York, this article, transcribed, below, appeared in The Weekly Wisconsin of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on February 12, 1851.

Note: I've transcribed the newspaper article (exactly as it appeared in 1851: spelling, one long paragraph, punctuation followed by em-dash, etc.) as the 165-year-old newspaper either scanned poorly or was in such degeneration when scanned it could not copy well--or perhaps printed poorly to begin with. 

 

Matrimonial Offer--Latest New York style.--The following advertisement which we find in the New York Express, opens such an entirely new plan of winning the affections--or, at least, the hand of ladies--that we have no doubt it will be popular:

WANTED.--By a Gentleman, (who has neither the time or inclination for the idle forms and ceremonies of courtship,) a wife. He is of middle age, medium size, dark eyes and complexion, good education, polite, easy address, character and reputation unexceptional; habits strictly temperate, and possessed of property to the amount of $40,000 and over. He is 35 years old, of unexceptionable character and standing in society; good health, and kind, cheerful disposition; and if a widow, without children; and if possessed of property, whatever she has will be settled upon herself. He proposes to visit the World's Fair, in London, next May, and thence extend his tour through the greater part of Europe, and would like to have his wife accompany him. Any Lady wishing to reply to this note, will please address a note to 'Veritas,' office of Boyd's Express, 45 William st., within one week, over whatever signature she may see proper, to which she will receive an answer, appointing a time and place for a meeting between herself (or friend, if desired.) and the advertiser, (or friend, of  his,) to arrange preliminaries for an interview between the parties, should one be deemed necessary, after a full exchange of facts, examination of Daguerreotype likeness, &c. Should an interview be agreed upon, it can take place in the presence of such friends of the lady as she may please to invite. Up to this stage of the negotiation no names or identity need be disclosed, consequently no confidence can be abused; and guarded as the intercourse will be, no indelicacy or scandal can attach. The most satisfactory explanation will be made for the rather novel and unusual course adopted by the writer to obtain a wife, and as he makes the communication in PERFECT CANDOR and GOOD FAITH, he trusts that no one will reply to it other than in the same spirit.

 

Was this 1851 advertisement for a wife a scam? I don't know.

Did a fortuitous meeting occur? Did this man, calling himself 'Veritas', find true love? I don't know.

But I do know that historic newspaper publications are a primary way for authors to spark their creativity and come up with the gem of in idea.

 

What do you think? Would you be interested, had you been a marriageable woman, then? ...Or her mother? Is the premise interesting to you as the reader of Sweet Romance?

 

USA Today Bestselling Author Kristin Holt writes Sweet Victorian Romance set in the American West. She writes frequent articles about the nineteenth century American west--every subject of possible interest to readers and amateur historians. She contributes monthly to Sweet Americana Sweethearts (first Friday of each month) and Romancing the Genres (third Tuesday of each month).

Sweet Romance Appropriate for All Audiences

 

Website | Email | Newsletter | Twitter | Pinterest | g+| Facebook Profile | Facebook Fan Page | Amazon

Copyright © 2016 Kristin Holt, LC