Candy's Donation to the ARBA History Library

Before 1987, ARBA recognized two breeds of Angora: English Angora and French Angora. The NARBC logo showed two breeds of Angora until into the late 90s.

Candy had needlepointed a huge NARBC logo for the NARBC booth at the annual ARBA conventions. She carried it to and from the conventions every year until the logo changed. Recently she decided to donate it to the ARBA History Library. She was told to mail it, but no one realized how big it was. Candy decided to deliver it to the ARBA office herself, driving from Indiana to Bloomington, Illinois. The top photo shows this beautiful piece of artwork done by Candy. In the second photo, the needlepoint logo is in its gray carrying case between the table and the display case. One can see how big it is.

Candy is seen in the third photo holding our NCAG Angora Handbook. She and Betty are the only two charter members of NCAG since 1982, though Candy lives in Indiana. We appreciate her long association with our guild.

Now there are four ARBA recognized Angora: English Angora, French Angora, Giant Angora (1988) and Satin Angora (1987). This two-breed logo truly is an historical item.

More About the Quilt at the ARBA History Library

The quilt measures 13' X 5'. I have been making quilts for 27 years and have made quilts that had more square inches but never one that long. It was a lot of fun to make and trying to design Bob's ideas into fabric especially long distance was a real challenge! Getting the curve of the table just right was another challenge due to the fact the table was out of state and the dimensions had to fit exactly. I had the dimensions of the table taped off on our wood floor for many months, my husband said it looked like a basketball court.

There are many historical items on the quilt besides the breed patches, all the founding members names are embroidered on one end and all the Sec/Executive Directors are on the other end. The 5 State Star blocks represent the 5 states that the ARBA offices have been located along with the dates they were there. All the conventions from the first one in 1918 are embroidered in a center block with the location and the date. Patches then are used from the time they came out in the 70's. All the embroidery was done by hand. I am glad it is receiving so much attention, People seem to be really amazed to see it up close, I don't think you can appreciate the sheer size of it and the amount of embroidery on it until you see it in person. 

Quilt at the ARBA History Library

In Domestic Rabbits, we have read so much about the ARBA History Library. Bob Whitman spearheaded the project, many people donated money, history items, books, and time to make this room a success. In issues of Domestic Rabbits, we saw black and white photos and many articles about the room, but we have never seen a color photo.

Our Indiana member Candy went to the ARBA office to deliver items that she donated and took some pictures. She is sharing the pictures with us.

The first two pictures showcase the beautiful quilt made by Lorena Ferchuld. Candy reports that the quilt is a lot larger than she thought, it is very well made. Each square is decorated with a patch from a specialty club. At the time of her visit two weeks ago, Angora patch had yet to arrive.

Lorena who so generously donated her time, material cost and skill is our local show exhibitor. She is shown here working on a youth contest in a show. Her Rhinelander "Highwayman" has recently won the breed national. Highwayman is featured on the cover of the current issue of Domestic Rabbits.

From the two top pictures, we see how beautiful the quilt is. It covers the entire conference table. On the wall there are photos and plaques of historical value.

Thanks to Candy for the treat. There will be more pictures to come.

Relaxing At The Fair

Angora exhibitors are usually very busy grooming rabbits in shows.

At the fair last Saturday, Casey at the top and Carol in the second picture are enjoying their breaks from grooming.

Carol is the last one of the Angora Gang to join the spinning craze. She is now more crazy about spinning than most of the others. Carol's breed is French Angora.

Casey has been breeding and showing English Angora for about 15 years. She has been spinning as long as she has rabbits. She also has Angora goats.

Big Bertha Hates Little Piggies

At the Contra Costa Fair, Big Bertha got totally stressed out. In the photo on the left, she is sitting on a chair with a wet chest. It was warm but not really hot. She even had a personal fan blowing at her, but she still got stressed out.

This morning, her mom Cathy says, "I think I figured out why she was so upset. The pigs got to her. I think she was stressed out by the pig noises. She is such a "chicken". I hope that is the case. It is easy to resolve that situation. No pigs!"

The pigs in the next barn was really noisy. It was hard to carry on a conversation among us, and it was hard to hear the judge's comments during the rabbit show.

There is one big plus with the pigs though. Look at the picture on the right. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have that smooth and round behind on our rabbits?

Emilia's Little Brothers and Sisters

Here are two pictures of Eldora's bunnies. Eldora is Emilia's mom. May be there is one or two in the litter that can repeat Emilia's performance on the show table?