A few weeks later I returned to pick up the quilt - it was beautiful, and finally finished, and to my recollection cost a whole of $20 - mostly in the cost of the thread reported the quilter, and just in time for Christmas. My Mother loved her gift - she was completely surprised that we even had the idea to do something so special for her. She used that quilt for years - till basically she wore it out.
I am now the keeper of the fragments of that quilt and thought I would share a few favorite blocks with you. Here is the date block, 1937 - I find the left reading slant curious. If you look closely in the photos you can see needle holes where the quilting used to be - those stitches are long gone.
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My Mother grew up in a large farming family (13 children), land-locked in the Oley Valley. I guess that's why I love these 2 blocks showing large shipping vessels. I can't believe that my Grandmother ever saw such a sight, but I guess these images reflect a degree of wander in her heart.
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I love this image of the little girl with her doll (or is it a mother with her child?) in a nurturing pose. The style of the chair is also interesting. Through the years the colors have remained vibrant.
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The Japanese lanterns on the left are from a block in the quilt; the lanterns on the right are from one of her aprons. I simply love this design and have used it myself in a quilt which I gave away years ago and have no photos to share with you - always take photos of your quilts!!!
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If we found this quilt top today I know many experts would tell us not to quilt it - that we would destroy the history of it. Honestly, I can't disagree more. This was my Mom's quilt - she had years of warmth from it, years of having the memory of her mother close to her. A quilt top in a cedar chest could never bring you that feeling. I know of only one other quilt that my Grandmother made - believe it or not - we used it to keep the draft out of the basement by rolling it up by our cellar door. I rescued it years ago but time was not it's friend.
I have to share this funny story about my Grandmother's quilt. As I said before, we gave it to my Mom on Christmas. We had a house full of family for the Christmas feast, brothers with their young children playing. The cornerstone of every good feast of the day was a bowl of Lipton's onion dip with plenty of chips for dipping. The beverage du jour for the underlings was cream soda - the good stuff - the red cream soda. So happens my toddler-sized nephew, who shall remain un-named, overdosed on that special cream soda and onion dip. Yes - he vomited all over the quilt, only hours after my Mother was overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of her gift. Luckily my Mother was not witness to the event. I looked at my sister-in-law and with a look of horror on my face she knew, as mother of the "vomiter", it was on her shoulders to remedy the situation or face physical harm. Thankfully - it all came out in the wash - but remains a favorite family story for all but the "vomiter".
3 comments:
I love the blocks! Especially the lanterns and the girl/woman in the chair. So charming!
Kelly
Thank you for sharing your story!! The quilt is such a treasure and I couldn't agree more with actually using a quilt. I'd be horrified if one of my quilts just sat in a chest somewhere. Glad to hear the quilt was saved by the washer!! :) Christine
It is such a treasure to have something that your Grandmother's hands touched. I hope that our children and grandchildren are as thoughtful about our quilts.
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