Sewing With Nancy

Sampler quilts have been inspired by a myriad of topics such as seasons of the year, holidays, and botanical images. Soon, you'll see a charming sampler quilt inspired by children's essays from the early 1900s children who wanted to win a Shetland pony with a saddle or carriage. I'd like you to welcome Laurie Hird, she's an author collector of the Farmer's Wife magazines a quilter, and history sleuth. Laurie, welcome back to Sewing with Nancy. Thank you. You were with us earlier with the "Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt" book. You did a lot of research and now you've furthered your research. Yes, in the early 1900s, the "Farmer's Wife" magazine wanted to increase their readership. So they started a contest. They hired children from about the ages of five to 12 to sell subscriptions to their magazine. You found these letters of children who won the prize. Yes, very rare. The prize was a pony. A pony, a carriage, and a saddle. You put this collection together. These stories are just so charming. Thank-you letters to the magazine. Then you paired quilt blocks with the stories. That's why you're here. Right. Because we have quilting. We have history. How many Shetland ponies were given away? In the course of the 12-year contest there were over 500, all over the United States. So you have 90 of them here, and 90 quilt patterns. What I found so charming were some of the stories the thank-you notes that the children wrote. Yes, they're really more than thank-you notes. The children tell what life was like 100 years ago. You have pulled some excerpts and we're going to show you some great photos. Yes, here's one from a little boy. "Like all western boys, I like to play cowboy. I have a dandy cowboy suit that I wear. I ride Judd around and lasso cattle just like real cow punchers do and also chase imaginary Indians all around the plains." He won the little pony, Judd, from this contest. You paired it up with a block. Yes, his quilt block is Cowboy Star. You found these, they were actually named that. These were classic quilt blocks. I did not change any names. Then you made this wonderful sampler quilt with all 90 of these blocks. Yes, they're all eight-inch blocks. It was a lot of fun to sew. Why don't you read another story. This one is by a little boy named Wilford. His pony is Larry. "There isn't a store in town where Larry hasn't been in. He goes in the drug store and the druggist knows he wants ice cream and he bows left to say yes. He gives him a cone of ice cream and Larry will eat every bit of it, and then asks for more. Then he will drink pop and root beer right out of a glass in the drug store. The druggist gives him some gum, and he will chew the gum and I am on his back all of the time." Children were very often allowed in houses and stores very common, with their ponies. With their Shetland ponies. Here is Larry and Wilford. You can see the size, the height of the little pony the height of the child. Yes, they're very small, often. Then the quilt block that you paired with this? Is Village Schoolhouse He talks about how he takes the pony to school with him. Very, very clever. I know you have many more stories. Go ahead. We have Hector. "Hector rides on the automobile sometimes and that makes him feel like he is the biggest horse in the country. But when he's down again he sees he's only a little Shetland pony. I was riding into the house one day to see what Momma was doing but she turned me out because the pony was chewing on some sugar. He's always climbing on the table looking for something to eat." I couldn't help but really spend much more time in this book than I had time to spare, because reading these stories and then looking at the adorable blocks. The period fabrics that you put with them are very charming, Laurie. Tell me about this block. That is named Verna Belle's Favorite. The little girl in the picture here is Verna. She has a little sister named Violet. What a charming collection of stories, quilts, history sewing and quilting all put together. Thank you for being my guest. Thank you very much. I'm sure you'll enjoy reading more about the "Farmer's Wife Pony Club." You can go to nancyzieman.com where you'll find all things Sewing with Nancy streaming video, the most current 52 shows. When you click on Nancy's Corner you will find the information on Laurie. Just click on Laurie, and you'll get more information on the "Farmer's Wife Pony Club" and all the interviews that I have during this segment. Next time, we'll be back with more "Fast and Fleecy Accessories" quick ideas to make for that fun fabric. Thanks for joining me. Bye for now.