Ice Terror

I am huddled in my living room listening to the terrifying sounds of trees breaking apart and falling. First you hear a sort of a groaning sound, then a shudder and a rustle, and finally a crack and a crashing sound as the final break occurs and the branch hits the ground. I haven't heard these sounds since the apocalyptic ice storm of December 2000.

Here's a photo of one of the early breaks:



The breaks and crashes have started occurring with alarming frequency. I heard a crash out front, opened the front door to survey the damage, saw a huge branch fall from the top of a silver maple, saw another one across the street, then saw yet another branch break off and fall from my tree.

I'm out of here -- the power is flickering on and off.

The Little Rock Nine

I'm old enough to remember the poll tax. I'm a native of Little Rock, Arkansas where our governor prevented nine black children from entering Central High School in the fall of 1957. I watched the 101st airborne convoy roll into Little Rock while I was stuck in a traffic jam with my mother and sister. Eisenhower sent an entire military division to protect nine brave teenagers and maintain order as desegregation of the public schools got off to a violent start.

More even than the cold war, racism was the defining issue of my youth. It was a time of great upheaval as the ways of the past gave way to the new. Roe v. Wade hadn't happened yet. Brown vs. the Board of Education had.

It was that day in Little Rock, the day that nine children were turned away, that I thought of when I cast my vote for Barack Obama yesterday. I've voted in many presidential elections, but I never felt prouder than I did yesterday.

I can't seem to stop smiling.

Behold the Dragon

Hot off the sewing machine,
Kwik Sew 3099:





My almost 11 month old grandson will impersonate a dragon for both Halloween and Mardi Gras. He's a long, lanky baby, so to ensure he will still be able to wear the costume next March, I made it a size two in length (for a 33-inch child) and a 12 month size in circumference. He was thirty inches long a month ago, so hopefully this length will fit him for a while.

I got my inspiration from the darling costumes that Ann Smith made for her two grandsons.

Since DGS lives in New Orleans, I opted for a cooler interlock knit for the body of the suit, with fleece for the spikes and claws. Naturally, I used Mardi Gras colors too.

James is diligently practicing his dragon noises to get ready for the four Halloween events he will be attending. As for Mardi Gras, James will be the dragon, his mom will be the damsel in distress, and his dad will be the knight in shining armor.

Sewing again

On Monday I noticed that the deadline for the PatternReview grocery bag contest was Tuesday. Not only do I need some reusable grocery bags, but an enthusiastically "green" friend has also nagged me recently to make some. Well, there's nothing like a looming deadline to get me fired up.

Luckily, I had plenty of stash for this. I used oxford cloth and blue cotton broadcloth purchased for projects long forgotten. I drafted small and large singlet style bag patterns and whipped out three of them, each one an improvement over its predecessor. Here's my review of the bags on PatternReview:

Singlet style grocery bags.

The bags are based on a plastic Wal-Mart bag. Here's a picture of all three bags:



These were fun to make and had an added bonus of stash reduction. Now I'm ready to try some other styles.

The Death of Nancy Anderson Cypert

Well, I haven't been sewing enough to keep a sewing blog alive. So today, I'll post about another hobby I sometimes dabble in: genealogy.

Since my father took up genealogy in the eighties, I’ve run across this story of my great-great-great grandmother’s tragic death many times, first in my father's massive genealogy files (which I inherited), now on the Internet as well.

This story of the death of Nancy Anderson Cypert was told by Nancy’s grandson John William Cypert to his daughter-in- law in the summer of 1925. I’ve modified the story a bit to make it more readable, but otherwise left it alone.

During the Civil War, there were many brave acts committed by those left at home. Bravery was not limited to those who wore a uniform.

This is the story of a brave woman who cared more for her family's life than her own, a story her descendants will never let die.

During the years of the Civil War there were many bands of bushwhackers (guerrillas) who roamed the countryside looking for victims to rob and pillage. When they found a likely victim, they changed to Confederate or Union uniforms, depending on which side the victim was perceived to be on. Often they knew the victim, so generally, they left no survivors to identify them. Though bushwhackers were commonly thought to be starving Confederates, history tells us that both sides had these types of gangsters. Many were deserters.

At the time of his mother's death on March 4, 1860, when he was just two years old, John William Cypert went to live with his grandfather and grandmother, John and Nancy Anderson Cypert in Searcy County, Arkansas near the town of Marshall.

Two years later when he was barely four years old, John William witnessed the death of his grandmother, Nancy Anderson Cypert, while he lay hidden in a manger, in a barn or nearby shed.

Nancy Anderson Cypert was tortured, murdered, and burned in Searcy Co., Arkansas during the Civil War in 1862. She was killed by bushwhackers wearing the uniform of the Union Soldiers.

Food was very scarce in this southern community at that time. These men usually put on gray uniforms in Confederate territory and blue uniforms while in Union territory to fool their own people. It didn't matter to them. They were not serving any cause. On that day they put on Union uniforms.

When his grandmother saw the "bushwhackers" coming, she told the four-year-old John William to run and hide in the manger, or shed. It might have been an empty barn and not too far away, but far enough. He said, "he run and hid".

From his hiding place, John William saw the men torture his grandmother by pulling out her fingernails with bullet molds. They did this to make her tell where her money was hidden, or perhaps to get information.
So when they had tortured Nancy, then killed her, they robbed the house of all the food and things that they could use. Then they burned the house down with Nancy Anderson Cypert inside.

This is what the storyteller’s daughter-in-law (Dorthy Teters Cypert) said about him as he finished the story:

“His faded blue eyes grew misty with tears, as he related to me, the story, by memory, from out of long ago. How a small boy, of about four, watched in horror and trembling with fear, as they tortured and killed the only "mother" he had ever known. His voice then rose in anger as he mentioned the "Boys in Blue" and he had little respect for the "Northern Gentlemen". What he called them that day I cannot repeat, but could I blame him? Great hatreds are born and bred, and last a lifetime in such instances.

He was a true Southern Democrat, Baptist and Mason. He died as he lived, fearless to the last. He had great respect for his grandmother, Nancy Anderson Cypert. In fact she must have truly been well loved and respected by all the family, for she had many namesakes throughout the family.”

Quilt milestone

Today I finally finished assembling the rows for my first quilt. I've been dawdling on this, but the arrival of cool temperatures has inspired me to get back to work on garment sewing. Completion of the 16 rows (of 16 blocks each) seemed like a good stopping point.



The 16 rows are pinned together and wrapped around the book. The page on the right shows how the quilt is supposed to look when done. Dear readers, I will not be doing the extensive applique shown in the middle border. I want to finish this in my lifetime, perhaps even in 2008. I have lovely blue print fabric for the narrow outer and inner borders, but I need to buy something for the middle border that has enough interest to replace the applique.

I can't believe I had the patience to sew those 256 seams. Oh, the tedium. I'm not sure I'm cut out for quilting, but I'm looking forward to the completed lap quilt. I really like the design.

Go Away Gustav

Oh this forecast is so scary! I just made hotel reservations in northern Mississippi for my daughter and her family in case they have to evacuate New Orleans on Sunday.