Block Fifteen: Centennial

Ah… nothing like a cold to make life a little less interesting just when you’re gearing up for the holiday season.

I located enough energy last weekend to keep current with Barbara Brackman’s quilt project, just enough.  I spent a fair amount of time on the couch afterwards admiring the happy orange fabric in this block.  It was me, the block, the TV tuned to Turner Classic Movies, and a jumbo box of Kleenex.

This block was used to commemorate the centennial celebration in New Zealand – the first country to grant women the right to vote in 1893.

Block Sixteen: Capital T

The T is for Temperance.  Apparently, many women came to the suffrage movement from the temperance movement.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it was a social movement that urged the prohibition of Demon Rum.

One notable woman was Sarah Pellet who was known as a mighty temperance speaker.  Sarah was firmly convinced of the soundness of the movement, so much so, that she traveled out west during the Gold Rush to address the men in the California gold camps.

I could tell you more about Sarah Pellet, but I think Barbara Brackman did a fine post on the subject, so why not jump over to her blog when you’re finished here?

I’d like to share with you today a little story about my great-grandpappy Eugene, who could’ve given us a first-hand account of gold mining and the temperance movement.  I’ve mentioned him in passing before, but here’s a bio written by his daughter, my grandaunt, Henrietta Aspasia Saucier Pace.  Just click on Henrietta’s Story: Part One.