Family Quilts ... Beauty with a Purpose
When I was growing up in the 1940s we had quilts on our beds, not blankets. If it were really a cold night, there might be several quilts on the bed I shared with my sister. Once I remember visiting my paternal grandparents on a really cold night; I felt like a mummy unable to move under the weight of nine quilts!
The quilts of my collection were made by my maternal grandmother. She was born in 1883 and by the age of 18 she was listed in the 1900 census as a professional dressmaker. Married in 1904, she became the wife of a preacher and mother of six. My mother said that the family was carried through the Depression years by the gardening and canning of her parents and the sewing skills of her mother who made and remade clothing for hire. The scraps of fabric left over from dressmaking were never wasted but were artfully stitched into beautiful designs and quilted into bedding for the family. The quilts she made are so reminiscent of the dresses she wore.
For the final quilting the pieced top was layered with batting and fabric backing and stretched onto a large wooden frame that could be rolled up to the ceiling when not in use. Quilting often was a social event with ladies of the church stitching around the sides of a quilt, many times embroidering their name on a square. These were called friendship quilts.
My grandmother in the early 1900s ... she died in 1957
A stack of quilts made by my Grandmother ... used on my bed throughout my childhood
This quilt pattern is called Flower Garden ... so many little hexagons and so reminiscent of Grandmama's dresses
This quilt pattern is called Wedding Ring or Double Wedding Ring ... only for the expert quilter... bound scalloped edge
This quilt pattern is called Sun Bonnet Girl ... hand appliqued and embroidered ...each bonnet with a different flower ... fond girlhood memories of sleeping under this quilt
This little lamb quilt made on the occasion of my birth in 1943 ... later it became my nap quilt ... each lamb appliqued and embroidered using the still existing lamb pattern
A very well worn quilt with a tulip pattern
An older and more worn Double Wedding Ring pattern quilt
My sister and I slept under this thick warm quilt most of our childhoods ... the back is a peach calico print that also appears as small pieces in other quilts
A beautiful tulip quilt with incredible stitchery
A very light weight big star quilt
A very worn yellow flower quilt ... this is the Noonday Lily pattern
This is an exquisitely stitched white light-weight quilt ... probably intended as a coverlet ... alternating rows of flower motifs ... all hand stitched
Beautiful hand-painted quilt painted by my grandmother in the 1930s and given to my mother as a wedding gift in 1942
Some of the 1930s flower quilt patterns published in the Fort Worth Star Telegraph
A pleasure to enjoy every day!
A large stack of quilt pieces done by my grandmother have never been used ... my mother thought these were not up to her mother's usual quality of work ... many of the pieces are themselves pieced ... above are pieces in the Dresden Plate pattern, there are 20 of these ... next are squares, some are made in the basket pattern
An un-quilted top made by my grandmother in her later years
Up close view of the unfinished top ... would be fun to have it quilted
Pillows made by my mother from some of the old squares
Pillows made by a professional crafter from some of the old squares
A well worn quilt that appears to have been made from feed sacks turned inside out ... ink is now visible
This old quilt was relegated to the attic deemed only good enough to be used as a packing quilt ... and it was used a time or two as such ... but was then saved and is now treasured by a great granddaughter
My quilt reference book ... published in 1962 from original 1931 book by Ruby McKim
Our granddog Lily loves quilts too!
