Rose_P

Me, too!!! But she wouldn't have done that. She said that if I didn't want it, she would have donated it somewhere. Not keeping it in the family was just a matter of them having too many nostalgia items. Other quilts were finished and nicer than this project, and nobody in that bunch is currently a quilter, though one of the late mom's sisters made beautiful quilts in her lifetime. In any case, I'm thankful that I have a chance to make a quilt out of this and see if the family will feel differently about it then.

Rose_P

Thanks for the encouraging words! I will probably do some basic machine quilting with my walking foot and maybe add a few motifs with the embroidery machine. I'm impressed when people do hand tying, but it's not for me. I just got the embroidery machine last month and never realized before that they can do quilting such as this. This sample is two layers of cotton fabric sandwiching Warm and Natural. No stabilizer is needed, but it does have to be hooped snugly. I made this little test with poly embroidery thread, but for an actual quilt, I'd use cotton on top and in the bobbin.

QuiltMom2

Have fun with the embroidery machine! I'd love to be given something like that to work on and once it's quilted someone will decide they like it after all.

carolynjo

We will be watching to see what you decide to do with it.

Jane Quilter

their loss. It is going to be magnificent when quilted. I would label it "family heirloom" & show it off at the next reunion. Thank goodness it wasn't lost.

DonnaPBradshaw

I have learned a lesson with this story. I have several tops that have not been finished. I will add a note to these telling the story of why I made them and make sure my name is on the story. That way if some one finds it they can finish it and still give me credit. I need all the credit's I can get!

Garden Gnome

I too think it is well worth finishing, and will be a great heirloom when finished. How do you feel about using a bright contrasting print binding? A 40s look. The fabric would mostly pass for 30s/40s repro, I think.

Along the lines of frugality, my FIL was a drycleaner , and of necessity learned to sew, in order to repair, hem, take in and let out the suits he cleaned. He used old and "abandoned" suits to make very heavy quilts. They are not attractive, and are too heavy to be practical, but they were welcome on a few nights that the power went out, I can tell you.

tlpa

It's fun to look at the different fabrics in the quilt. Thanks for sharing!

Homespun

I agree with Dunster.

Rose_P

Not repro. I'm pretty sure this is old, as in about 50 60 years or more. Some of the types of fabrics in it are very much like things I remember from my childhood, and they're not quilter's cottons, for the most part, but things that would have been used in garments of the time (before double knits). Some of the fabrics almost certainly date to a decade or two before it was assembled. If I had to guess who made it, I'd say it was probably the aunt who later made prettier quilts. Maybe she wasn't all that fond of this one herself. She was a younger sister of my SIL's mom, both part of that great generation that lived through the Depression and WW2.

I agree with Donna that we should include some information with our UFO's because otherwise they won't get due respect and people forget who started them. I'm sure my SIL's dad, who was the last survivor of that generation of their family, probably kept it for a reason and knew who made it, but he passed on before anyone could ask him what he knew. Even without the full story, the scrappy fabrics leftover from sewing clothes for the family, and in some cases maybe even cut from discarded garments or curtains, have a story about frugality that anyone can notice and appreciate, even without knowing the who, what, when and where behind it. But wouldn't it be good to know!