Tuesday, October 19, 2010

My Quilting Heritage


My quilting is creeping along slowly but there is not much to show.
I thought I might share my great grandmother's quilt.
My Grandmother's house was full of quilts on every bed, the number depending on the time of year. When that house was sold, I was living in Japan and all the quilts went to my siblings. Like that also, when my parent's home was sold the quilts I grew up with also went to my remaining siblings.
There was one quilt left and about eight years ago, my father said he was thinking of donating that one to a museum. I doubt this is a museum piece or that any of the public could cherish it more than I. Certainly a museum might have a better way of storing it or preserving it. Many of the brown dyes have bled on to the surrounding white and some are ragged and worn but to me it is a treasure.
I do not have a date for this quilt. Probably it could be dated by the fabric. It is 76 x92 inches in size and made of 550 two and a half inch patches set on point. It is quilted in a grid horizontally and diagonally at one centimeter intervals. Each small block is perfect and the quilting is ten stitches to the inch.
When I feel I am not making progress, this quilt is my inspiration. I can only hope some day a quilt I have made will be so cherished.

10 comments:

  1. I get giddy thinking of the hours painstakingly spent on this treasured quilt !

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. That is a real treasure and obviously an inspiration. You described it as being a '2 1/2"patch set on point. Does that mean that the block size is only 2 1/2"? Are the fabrics repeated? I hope your siblings value their heritage as much as you obviously do.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh ... what a wonderful treasure you have!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm so glad you have one quilt to treasure and hope your siblings appreciate those they have. This one is a gorgeous quilt and I can see how it would inspire you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. E' una trapunta meravigliosa!!!!
    Ciao
    Domenica

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your quilt is a treasure! A quilt is far happier being loved than just observed.

    ReplyDelete
  7. How I would love to reproduce that quilt. It's really something!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mom, your quilts are treasured! You have two grandsons sleeping under their cozy Grandma quilts right at this moment! (Naomi will sleep under hers when she gets out of our bed someday!) And the lovely King-sized Amish quilt on our bed only gets replace for the colder months that require a thicker comforter. I miss it when it is put away.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a treasure! I love the Shoo-Fly block, and these are so pretty. No matter the browns have bled onto the whites, it is so special to have a quilt by your great grandmother!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I just happened upon this post and so glad I did! What an amazing quilt and such a treasure for you. I am glad it is with you and not locked up on a museum. How lucky for you to grow up with quilts in your home.

    ReplyDelete