Thursday, July 4, 2013

Pella

Well, there hasn't been any sewing happening around here, but we went on a fun "field trip" yesterday to Pella, Iowa.  It was founded in the 1850's by a group of 800 Dutch settlers looking for religious freedom.

We toured the working windmill that the town built in 2002.  Very cool.



And toured a bunch of old homes in the Historical Village.  My big question was "Why are old sofas so short and small?  Were people so much smaller?  Smaller homes?  The 1890's sofas were "modern sized."  Any one know?  


I loved the colors and patterns in this carpet.  Wouldn't it be a great inspiration piece for an applique quilt?


I love this log cabin with it's flower garden!  But I just have to get something off my chest:  Why do people insist on having crazy quilts in pre-1880's historical homes?!?  Don't they know that crazy quilts weren't made until the 1880's and that it is going to bug me to death and that I will have to tell my children that the quilts aren't right for the time period represented?  And thank goodness that no one else was in the cabin or else they would have had to hear about it too....  Anyway....  :)


 Pella is a wonderful little town with beautiful architecture and we had a great time visiting.  My children even pointed out a cute little quilt shop!  Then moaned when we went in.  Aleah gives it (or leaving it?) two thumbs up.

I hope you are all having a great summer!  And Happy 4th of July to everyone in the United States!


4 comments:

  1. I love Pella, I have been there a few times. The best part is the bakery for me and the quilt shop. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I took a trip to Des Moines last spring. My sister had heard of this tulip place. So off we went to find it. We had no idea it would take what seemed like forever to get there. But it was AMAZING. I cannot wait to go back and see more of the town!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have a good friend who lives in Pella! I was down there a couple yrs ago and didn't see half of what you did. I'll have to go back!! Glad you had a good time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As I understand it (being a hated Redcoat*), early North American colonists (being the noble rebels**) originally created a "crazy quilt" technique using any and all fabric they could spare, generally scraps from worn out clothes, sacks etc, anything to make a warm blanket from - something to do with laws preventing colonists from obtaining textiles from anywhere but England, I think - 1651 Navigation Act (google to the rescue!) . That, of course, changed as things progressed during later colonisation & expansion and other techniques became viable. Then crazy quilting & friendship quilts using silks, velvets, lace, buttons etc became fashionable around the Victorian era (that would be 1880s on) in both Europe and North America. I'm betting people are getting the two phases of "crazy quilting" confused with each other.

    * Ok, now who has an image of Little Red Riding Hood with a musket?
    ** The Rebel Alliance... good thing we English never had a Death Star, right?

    ReplyDelete