Henry Knox, David Taylor, and Happy Friends

Last night there was a meeting of the Quilters' Connection Guild in Watertown, MA. As we walked toward the entrance, we passed this stone marking the journey of Henry Knox and his men. I was stopped in my tracks as I had never noticed this stone before. On the 17th of March we celebrate St. Patrick's Day and also the Evacuation of Boston. In case you don't know Knox's amazing story, let me briefly explain. In May of 1775, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys captured Fort Ticonderoga in NY. The British surrendered the fort and fled to Canada. Meanwhile, Boston was under the control of the British army.  George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army, along with his troops occupied high ground in Cambridge. Things did not look good; in fact, things were dire.

Then twenty-five year old Henry Knox had an idea. On December 1, 1775, he and a large contingent of Continental soldiers headed to Fort Ticonderoga, a distance of 300 miles.  Once they reached the fort, they dismantled the captured cannons and other heavy equipment, a total of 59 pieces of heavy artillery, and loaded them onto forty heavy sleds which weighed 5400 pounds each. I won't go into many details but they faced terrible problems with the weather. . . snows so deep that the oxen at times could not move the sleds forward and rivers often not frozen solid enough to bear the weight of the artillery, sleds, and oxen. After nearly two harrowing months, the men and artillery made it back to Cambridge.

On March 4th, Washington's gun batteries in Cambridge distracted the British while several thousands soldiers maneuvered into position the canons and other artillery up to Dorchester Heights. They also painted logs to look like there were more canons than there actually were. When British General Howe looked up at Dorchester Heights the next morning, it is said that he remarked, "The rebels did more in one night than my whole army would have done in one month." On March 17, 1776, British troops began the evacuation of Boston. If interested, you may read more about General Henry Knox here or here. And so ends today's history lesson. :-)

Okay, back to last night's guild meeting. David Taylor a master of applique quilting was the speaker.  Go to the Gallery page of his website to view some of his amazing pieces. I was fortunate enough to have taken a two-day class with this wonderful teacher back in 2016. This is my applique piece from that class.

David admonished us not to save our special fabric or more precisely, he said, "Listen, sisters, cut up and use your good fabric. If you die, the members of your guild will end up with it!!!" :-)

The folks from Bits & Pieces Quilt Shop in Pelham, NH, also vended at the meeting. I did my part to help the economy.

Finally, if you have read this far, I offer a lighter note. I've been trying to go through and get rid of a few things. No, not in the Marie Kondo way; that definitely would not bring me joy. Anyway, I came across this vintage hair clipper in a drawer in the cellar. I was about to discard it when I read what it said.

 

HAND CLIPPERS

MAKE HAPPY FRIENDS

EVERYWHERE

Make friends, not just any friends, but "Happy Friends." We all need happy friends, so you guessed it, I'm keeping it! :-)   Hair trim, anyone?????????????????