Finding Memories

It was necessary to go through my hope chest today, and in doing so, I came across a lot of memories.  Although, I don't have any recollection of this quilt, it was my baby crib quilt, made by my great grandmother.  She did quilt a lot, but she did manage to make a baby quilt for each of her grand children and great grandchildren.  It is all hand stitched, the quilting is tied with white yarn, and the backing comes forward to form a border/binding.  Don't panic about the white spots, that's just the sun shining on the quilt through the leaves of my backyard tree.

The simplicity of this quilt is what makes it so endearing.  A relic of its time, when things were slower, and simple, almost plain.  But the plain pattern and fabric is what makes it so beautiful.  This is a close up of the some of the fabrics used, and the white yarn used to tie the quilt together.

You can see here, in the next few pictures, my great grandmother, ran out of the print she was using and filled it in with what she had on hand.  There was not the option of running out and buying more to make it "perfect".

I noticed that she only ran out on the corner blocks, but if you stand back, (look at the first picture), you will see that the non-matching fabric doesn't take away for the quilt as a whole.  This only tells me that I have to stop trying to be so perfect in the quilts that I will be working on in the future and just get them done.

This is the backing print, which is a cute baby print, almost just like the reproduction 30's fabrics.  Although I was born in the late 50's, I am sure she had this in her stash from back then, because by the time I came along, my Great Grandma was in her 80's, and nearly blind, so she had to use what she had from when she used to sew for all her children in the early 1900's.  She did travel in a covered wagon from Kansas to Oregon when she was a child and sewed all of her clothes, and then later her own family clothes.  So, I am honored to have a quilt made by her, by hand, with little eyesight to add to my memories.

PS  She was still alive when I was born, but died before I could remember her.  I do have pictures of her though when I was a baby and a small child.

In loving memory of Amanda Jane Marsden

Four Generations from L to R:

Amanda J Marsden

Marvis K Merrifield

Janet L Steele

Renee L Steele-Smith

Warmest...