I am not a doctor. Nor am I a nutritionist. But, I have noticed that if I consume something sugary before bed, I wake up the next morning ravenous. The child drank orange juice at bedtime. It was no surprise when they had a larger appetite for breakfast the next morning! It is funny how different we see somethings in our modern day.
Block #15 ~ The Orange
When the time came for the letter O the members were all sure it would be used for an orange. They were right. In these days of food information what else could it stand for? Oranges are so vital a part of the diet of every child that Nancy knew each youngster would recognize the block at a glance.
While the quilt club members waited for the last arrival they discussed the various ways that they used oranges. One mother gave her child a glass of orange juice just before going to be. She said she found the little girl had more appetite for breakfast when she did that. Another mother made an orange gelatin and dressed it up with small pieces of orange sections freed from tough tissues.
Orange toast was served that afternoon after the members finished making the quilt. Later Nancy told how she made it.
Now they were ready to start. They cut the square from the newspaper, held it against a window pane with the 6-1/2 inch square of white gingham over it and with a sharp pointed, hard lead pencil outlined the pattern. They did not try to follow the cross lines within the orange. That represents the pattern in the cloth.
After the paper pattern had been marked onto the cloth the paper was pasted onto light weight card or tag board and dried under pressure.
The letter O was outlined on the white block. Some members used outline stitch, others a fine chain stitch. All agreed that the thread should be fast color embroidery cotton. It was pink or green or lavender, blue or yellow according to the color scheme originally chosen for the letters and for the connecting bands of color.
Next the paper orange was cut and used as a pattern.
Some of the members used soft orange, fast color gingham. One woman had a polka dotted material in soft yellow and brown. She used that, saying that her orange was russet.
One woman had some soft orange colored crepe. She used this to give the crinkly appearance of an orange skin.
In cutting the material a quarter inch allowance was made all around. This was later turned under, basted in place. The orange was then pressed.
Laying it over the penciled outline on the block, it was pinned in place and appliqued with fine, slanting, invisible hemming stitches.
The stem end of the orange was shown by working a solid spot of dark brown as shown in the pattern. For this the satin stitch was used.
As they sat and admired their handiwork and sipped their tea, Nancy told them how she made the orange toast. “I toasted bread lightly, buttered it generously and then covered the top with a mixture of sugar and grated fresh orange rind. A few drops of orange juice were sprinkled on each slice. I put these slices under the broiler and let them toast until the sugar bubbled. And that’s all there is to that. Do have some more Orange Pekoe tea” she said.
“Nancy page quilt club, alphabet quilt, block #15
, the orange” Newspapers.com, Edmonton Journal, February 1, 1930, https://www.newspapers.com/article/edmonton-journal-nancy-page-quilt-club/126526839/
If you’d like to purchase all of the alphabet quilt blocks as a block-of-the-month-club, you can do that here. This is NOT an affiliate link.
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