Another circa 1812 reproduction quilt blog to visit!

Our favorite Quilt Historian Barbara Brackman reminds us to remember the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812 through patchwork quilts.  Check out her fabulous 1812 themed quilt blog for period techniques and quilt style ideas:

http://quilt1812warandpiecing.blogspot.com

1812 War & Piecing.  I'm so jealous that I didn't think of the catchy title that she uses for her blog!  War and Peace is the famously long novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy.  The novel begins in 1805 during the reign of Tsar Alexander I and leads up to the 1812 French invasion of Russia by Napoleon.  Perfect timing!

An 1812 fashion accessory that's still in style!

Perfect to thwart the cool breezes of Autumn - shawls were at the height of popularity throughout the War of 1812/Regency period, and have actually never gone out of fashion!  Today’s fashion shawls are perfect to drape over your arms, add a light layer of warmth and complement any outfit, Regency or modern!

A fashion publication of the Regency era states:   "Shawls are much worn; they are admirably adapted to the promenade, as they afford, in the throw and arrangement, such fine opportunities for the display of the wearer's taste."   From Ackermann's Repository for June 1809.



A lithograph plate showing a variety of ways of wearing shawls in early 19th-century France (ca. 1802-1814); redrawn from various early 19th-century sources by Durin for Albert Charles Auguste Racinet's Le Costume Historique.
Click on the image to view it full size.

  My favorite is the green triangular version - third from the right in the top row - perhaps made in  hunter green camel hair?   Toasty!

Why is the War of 1812 a big deal?

• Why is the War of 1812 a big deal in the United States and Canada yet regarded as a minor period of annoyance by Great Britain?
• Was the Anglo-American "War of 1812" simply one rather unimportant period in the much greater world-wide Napoleonic Wars from 1800-1815? 
• Was America just a “burr under the saddle” to Great Britain during the War of 1812?
• And why was everyone so mad?

Decide for yourself when you click the link below and watch "The War of 1812" a 2-hour, online PBS presentation on the politics and battles that defined the war.  http://video.pbs.org/video/2089393539#




This program was produced by WNED-TV of Buffalo/Toronto.  Learn more at the PBS War of 1812 website at:  http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812