Family Quilts and December Mini

 I'll start off with the mini, which is another cheat (ahem..)  as I made this in 1999. But it has a story, so that should gain me some points, right?

 The story behind this little quilt is, my mom had ordered the pattern from a magazine sometime in the 1950's, but never got around to making the quilt. 

Backing up a few decades ... my mom grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan, the youngest of eleven children.  Quilts were made, but who knows what ever happened to them. One was a Sunbonnet Sue, which my mom was particularly fond of, but could never track it down after her dad lost the farm and all her siblings had scattered. She talked about that quilt from time to time, always with sense of loss. 

At some point she decided to make her own Sunbonnet Sue quilt, but probably got sidetracked with raising four kids, and sewing clothes for us, plus the cousins, neighbors, and everybody else as well. Sometime in the late '90's I found the pattern while rummaging through her sewing room. She said at that point she had no interest in making it, but I thought maybe I could make it for her. I also brought home some fabrics she had squirreled away, apparently intended for quiltmaking. 

The pattern was for a much larger quilt, and I think Mom was a little disappointed when I presented her with a wall hanging. But as you know I am not fond of applique, and although the applique in these couldn't have been easier, after six blocks I figured I was done. Plus I had just enough of her fabric to complete this small quilt, so there you have it. 

 

 While digging around in the trunk, I found one my mom did make. This sweet old quilt was made for my baby brother, right around 1960. Its one of only two quilts that Mom made once she was married.

I'm not sure the origin of those fabrics, as I don't think they're scraps from any of our clothing. It looks like she even made a make-do block.

I brought this home with the intent to salvage the butterflies and make a new quilt, but my friend Carmel, who studies quilts, said I should preserve it as-is. Sadly, it lives in my trunk. I do treasure it though, because its  history. And it shows just what she had to work with as a young mother without a lot of discretionary income. Much of the quilt is made from old sheets, including the batting which is flannel sheet. 

Further digging in the trunk ... 

 

 

... revealed this one, made by  Mom's sister Milly, who was the only one in the family (that I know of) who seriously continued the quilt making tradition. She gave me this quilt when I was in my early 20's and just moved in to my first apartment. As you can see, it is well used and worn. And obviously not re-folded in a long time - shame on me.

And humble. Aunt Milly was not a purist when it came to fabric. The brown print is some kind of polyester double-knit, which she used shamelessly in many of her quilts.

 I love the wide binding, and the big stitches! 

These are now hanging outside, for a good air-out. 

I will post a link to Wendy's blog, once she publishes the Monthly Mini's for December. 

 

love, Sandy

Merry Christmas!

My sister made Christmas cookies and sent us a tin full.

Aren’t these adorable?

There are more, but they’re still in the tin, individually wrapped, and I don’t want to disturb them ... quite yet.  

Do you, or did you ever make these? (decorated, cookie cutter Christmas cookies)?  As kids, our mom baked the cookies and we kids decorated them. It was fun, and we got pretty elaborate with some of them. (remember those little silver balls that practically broke your teeth when you bit down on one?) Anyway, my sister (with her kids)  has carried on the Christmas cookie tradition for many years - minus the silver balls. 

I have been sewing a lot. I finished my bedspread top, which for me is huge. I’m so glad it’s done! Now I have to figure out how to get it quilted (ie: find the right machine quilter) because I don’t think I ccould handle it. I’ll wait to post a picture til it’s completely done and on the bed!

Meanwhile I decided to make more of these:

I still have lots of orphan blocks, partial blocks and various bits and pieces, along with several bags and bins of scraps to use up. Haha, as if that’s possible, right? This is a fun project to work on when I don’t feel like working on something else. I know some of these blocks look like they’re a lot of work, but the process is actually very freeing because they don’t have to be perfect. Don’t forget I did not start from scratch as most of these started with “something “ already made. 

I’ve also finallly moving forward on making a postage stamp quilt, which something that has been on my bucket list for a long time. I’ve been saving 1 1/2” squares forever and have recently started sewing pairs together as leader/enders. Once I finally figured out a method to sew them all together so they consistently nest at every stage, I made some blocks and laid them out on my wall. 

My method, if anyone is curious, is to start with four-patches, making sure the seams all “spin” in the same direction - let’s say, clockwise. Then sew the four-patches together into 16-patches, making sure the outside seams are still all going clockwise. Then combine those into 32-patches, and so on. This way I can work block by block, and I can turn each block any which way whenever I put them all together. 

Well that’s about it for me.

I hope you all are enjoying your holidays, whatever way you can. I highly recommend zoom get-togethers, if you cannot gather in person with friends and family. I believe 2021 will be another tough year, but the tide has turned and there’s light at the end of the tunnel. We just need to preserve through the rest of this dang tunnel! 

love,

Sandy