Ramona Byrd

She grew up cooking with a wood cookstove, so no temperature controls there; she was born in 1901. Some say "medium oven", that means about 350 in her book, as we had that conversation a few times when I was a kid helping, & "hot" was later interpreted as 400.
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I also grew up with a wood stove, and in baking biscuits, you stuck your arm into the oven and started counting. If you could get to 30, it was not hot enough, probably Medium, or about 300 or so. But if all you could stand was up to 20, then slam in the baking sheet or pan and close the oven door. Let them cook while the bacon sizzled and popped on top of the stove.

As for recipes, I have one from my Mom's Aunt Benton Field. A recipe for her famous Blackberry cake which called for cocoa and "green cracked tea cup full of sugar" which I think must be a half cup or so. Loved visiting her as a child, and the strongest memory I have of her is that she always smelled of vanilla.

Brett Quilts

Someone said this was for a t-shirt quilt, which I've been fixing to try. Maybe I'll get the materials and do it. Thanks for this.

jpthequilter

The degrees on an iron cookstove or for that matter a modern oven...aren't as important as people think.
There is a flexibility built in...A little hotter = not as long. A little cooler cook longer. That is why we poke it with a broom straw or knife. You are right, most things cook at 325* - 350*.
Think Crock Pot= hours to get a tender roast, I have no idea of its temperature.
When I was a kid, sometimes my mom would bake a cake in a covered pot on top of the stove to show how it could be done and we still bake cornbread in a covered iron skillet.
So if you are wondering about the temperature of one of her recipies, google it and use the baking time and temperature for something similar.

Grandma Peg

Good luck remembering what it was for. We all do it.

Annya

You must be going to but these items when you next went to your LQS and you needed to have the sizes for the quilts that you want to make. Will that give you hint why you wrote it. I am always putting notes on my fridge all the time to remind me to get important things when I went out.

cabinfever

I really appreciate all the posts here both on memory loss / forgetfulness, & old-time cooking / recipes. Thanks everyone for sharing. I am also one of those who still cherishes anything that came from my grandparents; the value is in the memories not the money. I was lucky to get to keep a few pieces of furniture that are over a hundred years old now, but were just my grandma's "inherited hand-me-downs" when she left home to get married about 1928. Part of the draw to quilting for me, in the beginning, was to "bind myself" to her & learn a little more of what she knew. I wish for you all, share your knowledge with your younger generation; I most regret not learning more from my elders before they were gone. They had a lot of common sense, skill galore, & no fear to jump right in & do it.

I recently received all of my MIL's sewing things as she is down-sizing @ 78. Most is not fabric I will use, but plan to donate. However, she did give me a quilt-in-progress that she hand quilted for many years. My dilemma is should I finish it & give it to her this Christmas? She made a comment as we emptied the trunk..."those are such pretty colors together"...I think she still likes her choice in design & color. Not to mention she told me she took it with her on a lot of camping & fishing trips with my FIL; so lots of memories there too. I have never done extensive hand quilting, would it be sacrilegious to machine quilt it the rest of the way? Or should I hand quilt the big blocks (about 16" squares) & then join by machine? It is a QAYG style project, so I can hide quite a bit of the machine work in the sashing.

Annya

I think what ever you do with the quilt you MIL will love the fact that you took time to finish it for her. if you think that finishing it the way you find best at the time --Go ahead. I don't think she will mind.

cabinfever

Thanks Annya,
I agree that she is a flexible lady, so would certainly not complain about the finish or the gift. Still, when she shares it with others in her home, I want her to be as proud of her work as she should be after all those years. She has just bought a newer tiny house & has listed the home of 35 years built by husband & son; it must feel very sad as she is living alone now. She's selling so many of their life's treasures. She's a little more practical than my own mother, who needs to leave the 2 story behind before she breaks a hip like grandma did, then never gets to move home again.
My DH & I were given quilts from both of our mothers at our wedding, & they are both still going strong after 25 years. Both were tied @ about 5" spacing, with minimal quilting. My mother told me to feel free to FMQ the quilt she gave us, for practice with different designs. I think I would want to have a little more FMQ experience before I would take a chance on those keepsake quilts. Wouldn't you?

Annya

Yes I agree. Why don't you ask your MIL how she would like it to be done and work with her opinions in mind as you do the final decision. Good Luck.

Annya

Yes I agree. Why don't you ask your MIL how she would like it to be done and work with her opinions in mind as you do the final decision. Good Luck.