Frankfort Time Traveling

For history buffs who love imagining the lives of their forebears, I had an experience on Thursday that delved into what life might have looked like in the 1700s or 1800s. The settlers of early Ohio might have built these cabins, and perhaps my great-great grandparents raised their families in similar rustic structures.

On one of Frankfort's main streets, this unassuming cabin sits quietly back a distance from the sidewalk allowing its neighboring houses with much more stately presence to capture the attention of passersby.

This little cabin, however, holds secret treasures! The owner and resident, Pam Preston, pictured below, has created a bona fide history museum. I had the good fortune to be invited to a luncheon held here on Thursday, courtesy of quilter friend, Terry, who treated all of us Frankfort Girls to a wonderful holiday experience.

Pam's home is a genuine cabin from the area - or I should say, four cabins that have been moved here and joined together to make a livable, comfortable home for the modern resident. Previous owners did all that hard work of moving and joining cabins; Pam is lucky enough to be the current curator of the cabins, and she is possibly the perfect owner of such a home. I was fascinated at the depth of her knowledge of the history of the Frankfort area, in addition to genealogical history on the photos, artifacts, and memorabilia she has used in her decor. Living history! She is living it, and we were soaking it in - I could have stayed all day to hear her stories.

It would take me pages and pages of notes to retell all I learned so I will not even try; I'm the type of student who needs to hear it repeatedly - then maybe I can keep it all straight. Anyway, here are some pictures of just a fraction of her space. They will at least give you a sense of the rustic decor Pam has created, as well as the interior walls and structure of the cabins.

Looking into the 3rd cabin, and in the distance, the 4th.

All of these pictures were taken from the second cabin of the four, in the room where we dined. We enter into the first cabin, walk through the family room to this second cabin, the dining room. If you continue on through, two more cabins are behind this. The stairs here with the crocks lined up on the steps lead to a bedroom for grandkids. The front room cabin has a staircase, as well, leading to the master bedroom, but because they are separate cabins, the upstairs rooms do not join.

You may have noticed the fantastic primitives, antiques and decor - all Pam's collecting over the years is paying off big-time in this setting. She has acquired some lovely pieces, and from large tables and cupboards to the smallest trinkets on tiny shelves, the rustic look is absolutely complete.

In this picture, Helen is turned around to study a ledger on display; the ledger is an artifact from Pam's ancestors, and just along the right side of the picture, you get a tiny glimpse into the kitchen. It has all the necessary modern conveniences and upgrades to satisfy today's lifestyle. Also in this picture, you can see a bit of the spacious, roomy harvest table where the seven of us were served lunch.

Here's another view of those crocks on the stairs. I love that primitive little book shelf, but I also wanted to point out the fantastic hooked rug on the wall; a friend of Pam's made it for her in exchange for a large egg basket that Pam made. Bartering at it's finest! For years, she made, taught and sold baskets. Get this: in true 'it's-a-small-world' fashion, I actually first met Pam in the late 1980s when I took several basket-weaving classes from her!

Okay, I must go back. Maybe several return visits are necessary. One visit was simply not enough to adequately soak in all that is contained in this home - the history, every item on the walls, the furniture, the workmanship - everything had a story, and Pam kept it all straight. A book needs to be written, for sure, from all the details contained within these walls.

Little did I know that such a fantastic treasure was nestled into the middle of Frankfort. I daresay, few neighbors know of its existence. I consider myself quite lucky to have experienced this bit of time-travel.

Thank you, Terry! I had the time of my life! What a truly special day!

And thank you, Pam, for caring about history and for your willingness to share it with others!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Speaking in Frankfort

Took my little quilt show on the road yesterday - all the way to Frankfort. A couple months ago, I was asked to come talk about my quilts to a women's group in Frankfort. I agreed, even though I really had no idea what I would say or share. Given a chance to talk about quilts, though, seemed like a relatively easy thing to do! Getting me to stop talking about quilt is the trick! *hah!*

The event was held at the Frankfort Presbyterian Church fellowship hall. Tables were set for about 50 to have a luncheon prepared by a local caterer and member of the hosting church. I learned that a long-standing tradition in Frankfort is for the area churches to take turns hosting a monthly (unsure - maybe less often) Christian Women's Luncheon. What a great idea to promote fellowship throughout the village and surrounding communities. Ladies had RSVP'd so that the luncheon committee could plan for seating and meals. And the meal - oh, my! Hostess and caterer Patty prepared what she called a Brown Derby Casserole - chicken-based, with a type of breading and gravy, very tasty. I will definitely look around for a recipe. That along with a salad and roll for the main course, followed by a dessert of fresh fruit-cup topped with a ladyfinger - all tasty and very pretty in its presentation.

I arrived a bit early to get all my quilts and quilt tops arranged up front for an easy display. Above are the finished quilts that I took.

I mostly took quilt tops - I had such a hard time deciding which ones to take. You will recognize most of these, as I have recorded the making of all of them here on this blog. It was fun pulling them out, rehanging them on hangers, then displaying them for others to see. It's as if I am refamiliarizing myself with old friends when I see some of these! Weird.

The collection above represents the UFO challenge I gave myself in 2017 - that ultra-productive year of finishes. I talked about how making a goal of finishing a UFO each month kept me motivated, and how sewing/quilting with friends also motivates me and holds me accountable for finishing projects. I talked about what sorts of things cause a project to go into UFO-land. Mistakes are my number one reason - if I mess up something, then I am likely to stop working, fold that thing up and hide it away. Other causes for UFOs involve running out of a necessary fabric, or being stumped on a finish. Or, just plain growing tired of something and wanting to move on to something new. I have a thing for liking to start things. Finishing is an entirely different story. *ahem*

I took these three smaller quilts to illustrate that some of my time is spent on little things - it's not always about bed-size quilts.

I'd been told to talk for about 30 minutes, and honestly, I have no idea if I held to that or not. I suspect I went over, but hopefully not by much. And I had quilts draped all over the place! Above, are my racks of finished quilts mixed up with some of the quilt tops.

Across the way, the podium was piled high with some of the UFO challenge quilt tops. Looks like a tangled mess, doesn't it?

And the front table also had quilts strewn every-which-way. Two ladies stayed afterwards and helped me fold and rehang everything for packing up. Whew! I appreciated their help! You know how long that would have taken had I done it all alone. Below, new acquaintance Karen speaks with my dear friend Sharon (one of the Frankfort Girls; she gave me the Tin Lizzie long arm, remember?) prior to our clean-up efforts. Thank you, sweet ladies!

It was a totally fun event. I appreciated the opportunity to share my hobby, and to meet ladies from around my area. In her welcome, our hostess talked about how all the various events of our lives - happy times and sad, the ordinary and the extraordinary - combine to make the whole of our lives, like a quilt! Yesterday's luncheon became another very enriching part of my life, and I think, so, too, for those in attendance.

Happy Quilting, Friends!