This was one of my favorite nursery rhymes when I was little (and still is). I loved imagining living in a shoe with all those siblings, and I always enjoyed looking at the variety of ways the illustrators interpreted the shoe house. I know there are people who have a problem with this particular rhyme, and some have even created new politically correct lines to replace the two about broth and spanking. I still like the original version, though, and it’s the one I taught to my children, just as my mother taught it to me. The explanation under the pattern (as to why the Old Lady is so cranky), is pretty funny.
Mother Goose Quiltie Number 2
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she didn’t know what to do;
So she gave them some broth without any bread
And spanked them all soundly and sent them to bed.
The Old Woman who lives in a shoe seems kind of cranky, but you must remember she has a lot more children than the two we see. And, having to live in a shoe is enough to make anyone cross. But she will soon have them all spanked and put to bed, and then she will be as jolly as the rest of the Quilties.
This is the second Quiltie, which is going into the pretty Mother Goose Quilt that you are all going to make, and maybe win one of the gold prizes, which are going to be given for the best quilts, as explained last week.
Here are the first two blocks for my doll quilt.
Yea! Time to get busy! I’m doing mine twice the size of your charming blocks. Can’t wait to see how you put yours together! Thanks Martha for sharing these.
My favorite nursery rhyme was “Ol’ Mother Hubbard”. I’m afraid the old woman in the shoe scared me a bit!
I’m sewing along on 10 inch muslin like the original. Looking forward to #3 today. Thanks for sharing! I think it will make a cute baby quilt gifted with a Mother Goose book.
Can’t wait to see this week’s.