September 22, 2010

Wilene Smith Legacy Project; Wilene Smith Private Collection

Wichita, Kansas, United States

An essay from Quilt History Tidbits -- Old & Newly Discovered

Just For Fun -- Quilts and Quiltmaking in Commercial Advertising
As I ran across advertising that included quilts while turning magazine pages over the years, I couldn't resist keeping the ads. After several of them had accumulated, I conceived the idea to create a story with them, and thus the title, "Just For Fun." Of course it's much more interesting to turn the pages of that section in one of my notebooks and see the entire ads, but hopefully you'll get the idea as you scroll through the pictures here.

© Wilene Smith, September 22, 2010, all rights reserved

cotton cloth . . .

(from McCall Needlework and Decorative Arts, Autumn 1930)

plus thread . . .

(from Needlecraft, the Magazine of Home Arts, February 1931)

sewn on a Singer . . .

(from Needlecraft, the Home Arts Magazine, October 1934)

and when the quilt becomes soiled . . .

(from Needlecraft, the Magazine of Home Arts, July 1931)

but for a quilt that's new and different . . .

(from The Delineator, November 1931)

It's truly frustrating that scanners gather all the tiny dots that make up printed photographs into groups that form polka dots which presents a rather odd looking finished picture.