"Hey, if I had somewhere to go, I certainly wouldn't be in Cleve-Land." -Howard the Duck

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Quilts

Anyone who enters our house can see my love of quilts.  They're everywhere. 
On the walls...as pillows...on the bed...piled up on window benches. 
Some are hand made.  Some are store bought.  All of them are beautiful. 
All of them get used...that's what they're for after all.
This quilt is my most prized one.  My Mom told me how she cut every little hexagon to make this Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.  Her Mom...my Grandma...then pieced it all by hand into a twin size quilt.  It was also hand quilted by a quilting bee at their church. 
 
Every stitch by hand...every one. 
I love how Grandma combined such unusual colors and prints, yet they all work together.  I'm sure she used what she could find as she was a single Mom raising 2 kids during the Depression.  My Mom was born in the 1920s, so I figure this quilt was made during the 1930s.
 
When I moved out on my own, I begged Mom to let me have this quilt.  My timing wasn't quite right...she wasn't ready to part with it.  So...I decided I'd make my own version of Grandma's quilt.
I started my quilt back in the 1970s...then it got packed away as I moved to San Diego, then all around the country.  One year while I was still living in San Diego, Mom gifted her treasured quilt to me.  No reason to continue with mine, right?
Well, lately I've been feeling the pull to work on my quilt again.  I've pulled together the 1930s prints I had packed away.  I added to my supply with reproduction 1930s prints found in Etsy shops.  I'm working on my quilt again!
My quilt is an interpretation of Grandma's.  She always had a solid color flower with the yellow center in each of her blocks.  I'm combining solids & prints with no pattern to how I do them.  My quilt is unified by the 1970s gold & white print centers that are the same print as the green & white print paths through the flower garden. 
I'm hoping to eventually finish a queen size quilt for our bed...with each stitch done by hand. 
 
Just like Mom & Grandma.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

5 comments:

  1. Oh, Debbie, quilts were my first artistic love, and I continue to love them! I also have many - but not made by family, sorry to say. However, I have left my family with quilts to remember me by! :)

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  2. AMAZING, Debbie!!! I had so much fun reading the story behind your cherished family quilt and excited to see your new one get worked on! Love those old beautiful prints. Just beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Me and my sis took a quilt class in our church a real long time ago. We both finished lap quilts - all hand sewn. After I got married, my intention was to do one for our bed also. Today, it still sits in a box under a coffee table in the living room. :(

    I loved making my quilt. Today with people using sewing machines to quilt, I think it's really CHEATING! Doing it all by hand is what it's all about. I wouldn't do it any other way than by hand!

    Thanks for sharing....hmmm, maybe we should start a long distance quilting bee....one square (or octagon) at a time!

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  4. Thanks Y'all...
    It's good to know there are so many of my friends who also love quilting & quilts. I've done machine pieced & quilted quilts when I need one in a hurry or for a baby gift...but doing it all by hand is so relaxing.

    Long distance quilting bee??? Hmmmm...could be fun...we'll talk, Bev!

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  5. LOVE your grandma's / mom's quilt and it is wonderful that you are working on one too! :)

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