What's Happening

It was such a fun and busy year!  

We love helping other people have fun too.  One of our favorite things is wrapping and helping give gifts - just let us know with your order and we are happy to wrap and enclose a card on your behalf!

Of course the year kept us busy shipping books - and talking about them!

Several online and in person programs - with more coming up.  We added the calendar - in very limited quantities.  It will not be re-printed.  Link below.

  We are so thankful for connections around the world who have been so enthusiastic and supportive of our self published book!  It has far exceeded our expectations.  We went way out on a limb with high quality printing - this is not a POD (print on demand) book.  We printed local in a Union Shop that pays a livable wage and full employee benefits.  We chose every aspect to be premium - ink, paper, color etc.  

Everyone has been busy - Ethan has an exhibit coming up - we hope to see you there!

I leave in a couple days for my next 'in person' event at The Attic.  THis exclusive project will someday be released for everyone.  The original antique is on our collection.  I've done a lot of research and am looking forward to the program.  Also, while at The Attic we are releasing a new chart "Calm Repose" so stay tuned for that!

I am bringing a trunk show to The Attic as part of my program.

I am looking forward to sharing my antiques and reproductions!  I am using every inch of my luggage - did I mention I'm bringing a little something (limited edition) for everyone?

Fall has been gorgeous here!

We are enjoying the city more - particularly the Olde Town area around 

Saint Anthony Main.  Our daughter is a city dweller and loves it.

2024 is looking just as fun and exciting!

Watch for a couple magazine projects in 2024

I have Zoom events scheduled with guilds - one with a limited edition project

Also in person in April - Maybe I will see you in Kansas?

With two programs I will be driving Loaded to the max!

It's very likely I've left something out - and may be updating this.

In the meantime - Thanks for reading - Stay busy stitching and reading!

Best regards,

Dawn

*****

LINKS

Haptic & Hue Podcast.     https://hapticandhue.com/listen/

Etsy    https://www.etsy.com/shop/CollectorWANeedle

Selvedge Magazine https://www.selvedge.org/products/issue-115-pioneers

The Attic Needlework https://atticneedlework.com/#:~:text=Where%20Samplers%20Rule!,modern%20counted%20cross%20stitch%20samplers.

Sassy Jacks https://www.sassyjacksstitchery.com/product/sewing-rolls-needle-rolls-and-huswifs-dawn-cook-ronningen/

Stitchville USA  http://www.stitchville.com/

Reproduction Fabrics. https://www.reproductionfabrics.com/

Canadian EGA (London) http://ceglondon.com/home.php

Tudor Rose Sampler Guild  https://www.tudorrosesamplerguild.com/

Northwest Sampler Guild  https://northwestsamplerguild.com/

(UK) Beyond Measure   https://shopbeyondmeasure.co.uk/

(Australia) Crewel Gobelin  https://www.thecrewelgobelin.com.au/p/9574417/sewing-rolls-needle-rolls-and-huswifs.html

You can also email me for help finding our books and patterns!

Upcoming Events Enrollment Open

I was asked for a list of upcoming events - please note some of these will be updated in the coming days and weeks.  On this blog there is a tab for events and program topics.  I try to keep that spot updated!

I do have some openings in 2023 and 2024 - some of the events below are open for enrollment

CURRENT SCHEDULE:

February 12 - Kindred Spirits Guild - HEARTS - Guild Members

March 2 - Zoom "Charm Quilts" Minnesota Quilters Guest Fee $10

                  Sign up on their website - Will NOT be recorded    

March 4 - In Person "Charm Quilts" Minnesota Quilters Guest Fee $10

                  Sign up on their Website                        

March 4 - In Person "Fabrics Study" with Charm Quilts - In Person 

                  Sign up on their website $45/$55 

                 Minnesota Quilters website:  https://www.mnquilt.org/meetings.html

April 5 - Virtual Event - San Francisco School of Needlework and Design

                Exploring 18th century Embroidered Sewing Rolls

                Wednesday, April 5th, 2023

                10:00 AM - 11:45 AM PT

                Zoom program with Dawn Cook Ronningen - Will not be recorded

                Author of "Antique Sewing Rolls, Needle Rolls and Huswifs"

                Details on their website

                https://www.sfsnad.org/calendar

                Click HERE for details

                    

April 29 - Saturday - In Person - San Francisco School of Needlework and Design

               Details to follow soon!

June 2/3 Penn Dry Goods Market and Lecture Series

        2023 Link HERE NOTE:  Still being updated!

                

June 9 /10 Saint Cloud MN Quilt Show

                In Person Event - "Antique Medallion Quilts" Study Center and Bed Turning

                Details to follow - tickets now available - in person - no recording 

                Link to Show Site HERE

July - Zoom - Embroidered sewing rolls - NW Sampler Guild 

             https://www.northwestsamplerguild.com/

September 29/30 UK - Private Event

November - Special Event - The Attic - Mesa AZ Stay Tuned for Details

Charm Quilt Zoom Program

Charm Quilt ZOOM Program

Sign Ups are open

Charm Quilts 1870-2020

Collection of Dawn Cook Ronningen

Sponsored By The Minnesota Quilt Project/Minnesota Quilters

A portion of the proceeds go to The American Quilt Study Group

Thursday, 7pm Central Time - March 2 - ZOOM - Will NOT be recorded Non-members $10

Use this link:  https://mnquilt.org/meetings.html  Scroll Down to the March Meeting to Sign up

********

Saturday, 10am Central Time, March 4 - In Person Recovery Church

(Not recommended for Zoom/Hybrid Tech Attendance)

$10 for guests

Saturday Afternoon March 4

In the Saturday afternoon workshop, “Charm Quilts - a Library of Fabrics”, Dawn will lead a study of the fabrics found in her charm quilts. Registration will be required.

 Fee of $45 for MQ members and $55 for non-members.  

Photographs will not be allowed - Bring a pencil and paper.

A supply list will be provided with workshop enrollment.

Hope to see you there!

Happy Stitching,

Dawn

 

New Book Sewing Rolls Needle Rolls and Huswifs - Now Shipping

Front Cover

We are so excited to announce our new book is now shipping!

Hot off the presses - it arrived 12 hours before I stepped on a plane for a symposium.

The copies I was able to carry sold in seconds.

Since I've been home - I'm filling wholesale and retail orders.

My support team is helping Saturday - just had to provide dinner!

It's going to be a fun day.

The book is 235 pages

Filled with history, vivid high resolution photography

detailed descriptions from a diverse collection dating back to the 18th century

Sample Interior Page - Gorgeous Antiques

Examples include basic to rare one of a kind - not just from the USA

Table of Contents

Examples date from c.1780-c.1900

Index - for help looking up topics

Back Cover - sturdy packaging for mailing

***

This book will not be sold through distributors or Amazon.

We chose to print with a local union shop.

(Union Certified - Livable Wage) 

We are selling wholesale to small businesses in the USA.

Inquires Welcome!

International Postage is available - Private message or email us.

Please be patient - International Orders take time to complete customs forms.

Link to our Etsy Shop:  HERE

There is a short video in the listing where I flip through the pages to give you an idea of the interior.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Regards,

Dawn

Catherine’s Pin Cushion

 This is Catherine’s pin cushion from c.1855.  

Her quilt, Catherine’s Garden is one of many quilts we’ve patterned and reproduced. Whenever I buy a quilt I try to gather as much as I can about the original maker - it’s special to have Catherine’s pin cushion.  My Catherine’s Garden reproduction quilt was chosen as the International Quilt Festival 2022 Signature quilt.  Quite wonderful! The pattern includes all of the hand quilting lines from the original.  I used them in my reproduction.  

To celebrate, we have reduced the price of our digital pattern for our Noah and Matilda quilt.

Link To Listing

We also made a single file digital pattern for a smaller version of Catherine’s Garden - called Catherine’s Flowers.

Link To Listing

Finished quilt hand stitched by Shona in Colorado

If you are going to Houston, please stop by the exhibit and say hello!  At 1:00 Saturday and Sunday we will do an exhibit talk with some of the the other makers! Hope to see you there.

Happy Stitching! 

Dawn

Mary Witherwax Swap

 

My friend Deb told me about a swap she and her stitching friends are doing. 

Of course, we love that they chose Mary Witherwax blocks!

Her group has existed for years, bonded in friendship and love.   

They’ve moved all over the country and still retreat together when they can.

They all do hand appliqué and don’t have too many ‘rules’ for the swap.

Having a history of many group projects they know what they like.

Their ground fabrics will all be scrappy shirtings - each member making duplicates of the same blocks.

In the end - they will each have a quilt - and more memories stitched in every block.

Deb has promised some progress photos - watch this space! 

Link to digital pattern or book: HERE

Karen (Log Cabin Quilter) made her Mary Witherwax in French General fabrics.

It is in our exhibit this fall in Houston, “Antique Appliqué Revisited”

Happy Stitching,

Dawn

What An Honor

 What an HONOR!

Friday was a wild day - the kind that takes your breath away!

I had an email from International Quilt Festival.

I quickly opened it hoping all was well with the quilts for my exhibit.

The quilts were all been shipped to Houston from all over the US & Canada in June.

It was an email advising me my Catherine's Garden quilt was chosen 

as the 2022 Signature Quilt!

Wow!

We exchanged contracts and it was announced in a matter of a few hours!

Did I say Wow?

I wasn't even aware that was a possibility - I've learned much about the process.

This is the antique quilt from our collection:

Chrome Yellow Ground Fabric

If you are going to Houston please stop and say hello!

I will be at the exhibit at 1pm Saturday - for sure for an exhibit talk.

I will be there others times as well - we can also setup a time to meet.

All of the quilts are precious - so much history and so many stories to tell!

Stay tuned to learn why my husband calls the antique Catherine - His

One of several stories.

Pattern Page: HERE 

We also did a BOM program with the flower blocks HERE.

Past blog posts about Catherine: HERE

Happy Stitching,

Dawn

Antique Applique Revisited Houston Here We Come

 If you are going to Houston Quilt Festival this year I hope you will stop by and say hello!

I will be in the special exhibits area.  We can even setup a specific time to meet.

We will have some 'exhibit talks' to tell about the quilts as well!

Happy Stitching!

Dawn

Piecework Bodkin Holder Pattern

The summer 2022 edition of Piecework magazine is hitting the stands April 26, 2022.

I am so excited to have an article AND pattern in this issue.  

While bodkins are covered in my book, "Antique American Needlework Tools" I didn't have room to dive as deep as I would have liked.  Also included is the pattern to make the sweet floral trim bodkin holder.

In addition to bodkin history and the bodkin bolster instructions, there are several photos of bodkins and bodkin holders for inspiration.  Including a special Mother of Pearl Royal Palais Etui set.

I know many of you are makers - so we also put together a few kits from vintage supplies to reproduce the bodkin holders.  You supply the bodkins.

One kit makes 2 bodkins, one of each style HERE

    (Note: Because the skirt braid is antique, colors in the kits will vary)

You can embellish them with many stitches, or none!  Lot's of ideas!

Kit Contents: Pattern, supplies to make 2 bodkin holders

*You supply basic sewing supplies; sewing needle, thread etc.

Look for this cover:

(Paper or Digital)

Subscribe and Buy the issue HERE

  

Happy Stitching!

Dawn

New Book Mary Witherwax

Mary Witherwax Front Cover

We are so pleased to announce the release of our new book, "Mary Witherwax".  

She's a generous and full book at 138 pages!

There are full color photos as well as a gallery of finished quilts.  The finished examples include bed and wall sized quilts.  We include the history of the original quilt, as we know it today.

Full size patterns include the full alphabet to use your name like Mary and I did.  

Also included are some alternate applique blocks to add to the fun.

Over 165 blocks + Full Alphabet + Full Border

Pattern pages are single side printed. 
Ideal for red work as well
White comb bound for full 360 degree opening on a light box. 

Pattern pages are printed single sided

The back cover includes a portion of my reproduction.  My son wants this one so I will ba adding some extra hand quilting to the alternate blocks. 

We are so proud to be partnering with a local publisher; a union certified B Corp.

This means they pay a livable wage to people in my community. No off-shore work waiting on a ship in the ocean. They understand the art and craft community and were very supportive through the entire process.  We had some delays due to Covid and paper supplies which is why we didn't do any early announcements.

Mary Withwax by Karen Beigh - Log Cabin Quilter

Mary Witherwax blocks look great in many fabrics.This beautiful example is made in French General prints.  Instead of an appliqué border, Karen used a gorgeous French General print.  

A few of Mary's blocks in red work

Mary's blocks also lend themselves to red work (or blue work, or...).  It was so much fun to stitch Mary's designs and think about her work.

We hope you give the book a try - we think you will love it and find many uses for the 165+ blocks.  The digital pattern is available - but is not the same as the book.  If you ordered the paper pattern (from 2018) please contact me.

You can order the book HERE.

Thank you for reading along today.

Happy Stitching!

Dawn

Tis The Season

Hazel 6 months old

Seems the holidays have come earlier this year!  We are busier than ever.

Maybe it's the new kitten we adopted? Or maybe, we have adapted the slower pace forced from Covid surges.  

Either way - we are looking forward to new projects and new opportunities in 2022!  Watch this space for more details.

I was pleased with Carol's mention of my social media posts in Issue 146 of Quiltmania.  It was fun to see which thumbnail photos she selected.  It was a complete surprise to me!

More on this issue HERE

There are six other people mentioned as well
as all the content providers in past issues and those
coming up in future issues!

I've been contributing to the Piecework Magazine blog.  There is a wealth of information on the blog with several contributors and numerous topics.  HERE

I've returned to some cross stitch projects.  It adds to the variety in between my quilting projects.

This recent finish is 'Mary Hart' stitched on 52/60 count - an uneven linen using Gloriana variegated silk threads.  Framed in walnut stained tiger maple - she's tiny at 5".  I can hold her in the palm of my hand.

Chart by GigiR - kitted by The Attic, Mesa AZ

My daughter bought her first home and has discovered the joys of gardening.

Her older home has a few apple trees.  We did a joint project, making hard cider.  It's bottled now conditioning with the 'tasting' planned for Thanksgiving.

Hard Cider 

My big push is to finish my Fig Leaf and Flowers quilt this calendar year.

I'm enjoying all the motifs in the quilting; Circles, hearts, feathered wreathes and more!

More photos and pattern HERE

I am planning on a red reproduction print binding

My first event of 2022 is online with the San Francisco School of Needlework.

Registration details are HERE

Thanks for reading!

Have a great November - I hope it includes some stitching time.

Dawn

San Francisco School of Needlework Virtual Opportunity

 

I have been invited to give a virtual webinar for the San Francisco School of Needlework! 

January 26, 2022 

I am so pleased to work with them. Love their promotion of handwork and history.

Enrollment is limited, registration is now open.

Click here for the link to Eventbrite HERE

More details and photos on the registration page.

Be sure and let me know if you have questions.

Happy Stitching!

Dawn

Other Links:

Check their Facebook page and website for more virtual opportunities, exhibits and workshops!

(2022 events are not on the website yet - so you get the first opportunity to register)

https://sfneedleworkanddesign.org/

https://www.facebook.com/events/196546795834548/?ref=newsfeed

Piecework Summer 2021 Issue and In Process

I have been keeping busy - stitching and writing.

My virtual programs have been fun - allowing me to present to and hear from enthusiasts all over the world.  I have more virtual programs coming up - see the 'virtual programs tab on my blog header.

Pin Ball Grouping

In June I will be presenting at the Penn Dry Goods Event

You can still register for many wonderful programs click HERE.

In July I am doing an event for the Southern Maine Chapter EGA - Private Event

Contact me about doing a program for your group!

I am so happy with the feature in Piecework Magazine 

...about me. (she says blushing)

They make it so easy - each month they feature someone from their contributing community.

The questions and photos allow you to see a bit more of my studio space

and learn more about me.  I have never had anything written about me!

I shared a few smalls from my collection 

as well as some pieces I made.

Also in the Summer 2021 issue is reader Francyne's

sewing roll done from my pattern in a previous issue.

Both issues are available - use the link if you are not a subscriber

Link to Piecework Magazine:  HERE

Another project in the works is dressing some peg dolls.

Two are antique and will be dressed in dutch chintz and accessorized!

The center doll is a Peddler Doll workshop with my embroidery guild 

with Jackie du Plessis

The precious tiny dolls will be part of the accessorizing 

the larger dolls.

Very fine - as in as fine as a human hair - are the black tatted reticule and white doily

hand tatted by Doris Gerard

The tiny dolls were handmade in Spain - shipped just as the 

Pandemic closed things down.

Also for one of Jackie's classes is the pre-stitching for her Etui box.

Looking forward to assembling the box in September!!

For this sampler, Marie Erco

Jackie had us remove and re-weave red threads to 

best simulate the antique linen of the original.

My version of the Dorothy Walpole sampler is also 

nearing a finish!   HERE

It is such a joy to stitch all of the varied stitches.

It's been hard to put down to do other work.

40 count linen - DMC threads

I am also close to a finish of my applique top - 'Fig Leaf and Flowers' quilt

I didn't do the applique in sequence.  I did the center - then the borders.

Now, I am finishing the areas around the center medallion.

Based on a 19th century quilt in our collection - the pattern 

is available for digital download - see blog tab in this header.

Pattern HERE

Also close to a finish is my Karma Quilt

This is based on an antique charm quilt in my collection.

Other than the stunning red path, there are no fabric repeats.

The pattern is free - see the tab on this blog header for details.

See the original and get the free pattern HERE

Happy Stitching!!

Dawn