McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt Block 6 - Hanley's Woods

I've been stitching on my McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt and finished up Block #6.  This Hanley's Woods:

If you don't live in McHenry, this probably won't mean anything to you but Hanley's Woods was owned by Alexander Hamilton Hanley and is located over by where my parents live.  Today it's known as the Whispering Oaks subdivision and Water's Edge.

The man on the left hand side of the photo is most likely one of Alexander's sons.  Probably George Hanley.

As I've mentioned before, Alexander Hanley is my old McHenry settler of choice!  LOL!!!  Honestly, I don't know why but if you're interested, here's a picture of him:

Special thanks goes out to Patrick Wirtz, our McHenry Historian for sharing the photo of the woods with me.  I had never seen that photo before.

Here are a few close up photos of the stitching:

I always embellish my lace.  Since this quilt is traditional in style, I've overstitched all the lace pieces instead of using beads and sequins like I usually do.

 These are just little satin stitched flowers, just scattered here and there.  Like they would be in the woods!

The little heart is filled in entirely with French knots.  I love doing French knots.  My grandmother taught me how to do them and every time I do, I think of her.

A simple little cross stitch pine tree, like one would find in the woods!

McHenry Crazy Quilt Block 4 Complete

I finished up Block #4 of my McHenry Illinois Crazy Quilt the other day:

Since I couldn't find the exact year that this house was built, I simply embroidered "1860's" on the block.

The "AH" stands for Alexander Hamilton and then his last name is at the bottom of the block.

There will be several more blocks devoted to this early McHenry settler.   But for now, I've moved on to Block #5.

McHenry Crazy Quilt - A H Hanley House

I'm working on Block #4 of my McHenry Crazy Quilt.  There is a particular early settler that I'm rather fond of.  Why?  I have no clue!  I've just been compelled to read everything about this man that I could find.

Perhaps it's because he owned such a huge piece of property in McHenry, close to where my parents live.

The man's name is Alexander Hamilton Hanley and this block represents his house:

This is the oldest photo I have been able to find of the Hanley house.  Sadly, this was taken long after it was abandoned.  The house was actually destroyed by fire in 1975 by (supposedly) vandals.  There are those of us who aren't so sure of that verdict.  Anyway, the house is long gone now and a bank now sits on the location where this house once sat.

Anyway, the house was built in the 1860's.  I'm trying to find the exact year to embroider on this quilt.  It had 14 rooms and a full basement.

Alexander Hanley was born in 1816 and died in 1891.  He was born in New York and came to Illinois when he was around 20. 

Here is a the 1872 McHenry map:

Most of you probably don't care but for references purposes (because there will be other blocks devoted to Hanley), he owned the land in the red area.  If you click on the map image, you can see the red dot where this house was located.

My parents live in the green area at the bottom of the map and I live in the green area up  north near the lake.

I will tell you more about AH Hanley in future posts.  For now, here are some closeups of the block:

This little bluebird doesn't show up well on the block but I'm not going for perfection with this quilt.  I'm trying to keep it traditional and Victorian looking.

Any lace that I use on this quilt is antique.  This piece is from the late 1800's.  I'm highlighting the lace pieces on this quilt with some stitching.  I don't want to hand-paint any of it.  They didn't do that in the old days! 

And this piece too is from the late 1800's:

I'm not sure that I care for the way this piece looks on the block but I'm not going to take it out.  Again, this isn't about visual balance or perfection.  It's about tradition and keeping the style within the time frame of the history that I'm trying to share.

I still have to add the little button spider and then the text.  I hope to have an answer on the actual year that this house was built by tomorrow.