There are but a few things on which health, and happiness depend more than on the manner in which food is cooked. You may make houses enchantingly beautiful, hang them with pictures, have them clean and airy and convenient; but if the stomach is fed with sour bread and burnt meats, it will raise such rebellions that the eyes will see no beauty anywhere. The abundance of splendid material we have in America is in great contrast with the style of cooking most prevalent in our country. How often, in journeys, do we sit down to tables loaded with material, originally of the very best kind, [which] has been so spoiled in the treatment that there is really nothing to eat! . . . . How one longs to show people what might have been done with the raw material out of which all these monstrosities were concocted!
By Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe
American Woman's Home: or, Principles of Domestic Science; Being a Guide to the Formation and Maintenance of Economical, Healthful, Beautiful, and Christian Homes, chapter 7, Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
This one is my brother's (the first one is posted here).
The back (larger image):
Close-up of the quilting:
The whole quilt (
larger image):
A close-up view (
larger image):
Detail:
There is no really efficacious mode of preparing a woman to take a rational care of the health of a family, except by communicating that knowledge in regard to the construction of the body and the laws of health which is the basis of the medical profession. Not that a woman should undertake the minute and extensive investigation requisite for a physician; but she should gain a general knowledge of first principles, as a guide to her judgment in emergencies when she can rely on no other aid.
American Woman's Home: or, Principles of Domestic Science; Being a Guide to the Formation and Maintenance of Economical, Healthful, Beautiful, and Christian Homes, chapter 7, Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
My great-grandmother (my mother's father's mother) made each of her three great-grandchildren a quilt. This one is mine.
It is hand emroidered and hand-pieced. After completing three such quilts she didn't feel up to hand-quilting them. My father's mother offered to back them and quilt them for us (I think some other relatives helped). I like that our quilts are the work of both sides of our family!
Here's the back of the quilt, which shows the hand quilting (larger image):
This is the whole quilt (
larger image):
A close-up view (
larger image):
Another close-up (
larger image):
A bit of detail:
ETA: I posted pictures of my brother's quilt
here.
It has ever been assumed that the learned, the rich, and the powerful are not to labor with the hands, as Christ did, and as Paul did when he would "not eat any man's bread for naught, but wrought with labor, not because we have not power "[to live without hand-work,]" but to make ourselves an example."(2 Thess. 3.)
Instead of this, manual labor has been made dishonorable and unrefined by being forced on the ignorant and poor. Especially has the most important of all hand-labor, that which sustains the family, been thus disgraced; so that to nurse young children, and provide the food of a family by labor, is deemed the lowest of all positions in honor and profit, and the last resort of poverty.
American Woman's Home: or, Principles of Domestic Science; Being a Guide to the Formation and Maintenance of Economical, Healthful, Beautiful, and Christian Homes, chapter 1, Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
The person who decides what shall be the food and drink of a family, and the modes of its preparation, is the one who decides, to a greater or less extent, what shall be the health of that family. It is the opinion of most medical men, that intemperance in eating is one of the most fruitful of all causes of disease and death. If this be so, the woman who wisely adapts the food and cooking of her family to the laws of health removes one of the greatest risks which threatens the lives of those under her care.
American Woman's Home: or, Principles of Domestic Science; Being a Guide to the Formation and Maintenance of Economical, Healthful, Beautiful, and Christian Homes, chapter 9, Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Posting my goals has helped me but I'm not going to do it this week. I still have goals but I'm not posting them. I hope (which, in a way, is a goal!) to concentrate on getting a few other posts up which may be more valuable to my readers. I'm not sure how many blog posts ( I have three blogs!) I can manage in one week but based on my past experience it's not that many. So, I'd better cut out the goals posts if I want to do anything else!
#1 Lavender baby dress: test button holes, button holes, buttons
#2 Baby jumper: test button holes, button holes, buttons
#3 Anything I feel like. I need a break from "must do now" sewing, yet I still need to get things done.
I've canceled the green baby dress. I will make it some day, since it is cut out, but it may or may not be for this baby!
What's coming up in the future: darning socks, Sense and Sensibility's Regency Gown (a lot more interesting than darning socks, don't you think?), Christmas gifts, a variety of mending jobs, t-shirts and tops.
All done! I hope to have some pictures of the baby out fit soon. The mama loved it.
#1 Sort through two shelves of wire shelving unit. See if I can get rid of some stuff.
What? No #2? Nope! I really could stand to have ten organization goals each week but I just don't have time right now. One is better than nothing ~ so much better. My home improvement goals really are organization goals too, especially the first two. It's hard to be organized in an unfinished house! That's not sufficient excuse and it is not the cause of all my organization problems, but it certainly is a big factor. Someday I hope to have a place to hang my robe so that it's not just draped over something. Draping is not really an ideal storage method and I would like to eliminate it!
Weeeeeel . . . I ended up doing the whole shelving unit plus all the clothing drawers in another unit! It was much easier than I thought it would be. Sometimes things are. I ended up with four empty shelves in the shelving unit, two of which I have filled up with other things.
Just so you know, I live in an unfinished house. I'm going to be talking to the resident carpenters this week about some much needed improvements.
#1: Mention closet, especially the drawers. I need it finished!
#2: Mention under sink cabinet. I need better storage, plus it's ugly under there.
#3: Mention hole in shower. No, I didn't throw a fit in the shower! The hole has been there all along. We poked it hauling the thing in. DearFather suggested we install a soapdish/shower organizer thing there and I wasn't about to say "No, throw this [cheap, from a salvage place] one away and buy me a new one"! I would, however, like to get it fixed. It makes it hard to clean the shower.
That was easy. Talking usually is!
~ Notes ~
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