dewie45

I can't remember when I first was aware of quilts as they were always around as everyday bedding. One red and white was used by my sisters and then me. By the time I had it there were some stains and red nail polish on it. I added my own design with a toy iron. Do you believe they actually made 'toy' irons that plugged in and got hot enough to scorch fabric?! I still have that quilt and several others most of which were hand pieced and quilted by my aunt and grandmother.
One special quilt is a blue and white made sometime in the 30's. My mother did not quilt but thought she should so she pieced this one. My great-grandmother did the quilting and it is lovely. Mother put it away without a binding, I don't no why for sure but I think maybe it was because her grandmother passed-away. I saw it one day and she told me about the quilt. I think I was eleven. I had my sister help me sneak it out of the house and she got some fabric to match the blue and then we took it to my grandmother to bind it. I gave the finished quilt back to my mother for Christmas. I was pretty proud of myself! Four generations were involved in completing it. The quilt now belongs to me and is very special for all the memories.

moreland

The quilt I remember most was a yo-yo quilt my aunt only brought out on very special occasions. I expected to have it when she was done with it, but there were a lot of nieces and it went to another family.

ksea

When I was 5 my grandmother started teaching me to quilt. i worked with grandma piecing tops every time she came to visit us. She usually stayed for a month when she came so we had quite a few tops pieced. Then when I was 8 she moved far away and I only got to spend 1 week a year with her. I guess we decided that there was too many other things to do together because we didn't use those weeks to work on quilts anymore. I saved the quilt tops and when I got married I took them with me and held on to them for years and years hoping to do something with them someday. Then Dec 18, 1996 I had a house fire and lost everything including the quilt tops that grandma and I had worked on. This devasted me and I put the idea of making a quilt away until just a little while ago. I now have the time and emotional foritude to make a quilt in my grandmothers honor. I am still in the process of designing it and can't wait until I start.

duckydo

I remember when I was probably in 2nd or 3rd grade going to my grandma's house and she wold have a quilt frame set up in the corner of her dining room and I could never figure out how she got all of those squares together. When I was a little older I had an Aunt that would have a basket of little quilt pieces that she was hand piecing.(I watched her and it looked easy). When I was in my 20's I decided I was going to make a quilt.... so I cut some squares and triangles and tried to hand stitch them together... needles to say it did not work. In my 30s took my first quilting class and have been quilting ever since. My first one was all hand pieced and quilted, after learning strip quilting have not had time to do much hand piecing or quilting. So many quilts.... not enough time. When my Mom passed away I got one of my grandmother's hand pieced and hand quilted quilts. I treasure it.

emelem

As a child, while visiting a distant relative, I remember seeing a quilt with what looked like swastikas.(I still don't know what pattern it was). I was convinced that those relatives were German spies.

sally's girl

As a very young child I remember when we traved 5 long hrs to my Grandparents house, crawling under a pile of feather quilts made by my grandmother (in an unheated bedroom). She made patchwork quilts also....

fabric_lover

I have been enjoying reading all the memories. Thank you.

My Aunt Madeline was the only person to quilt in our fmily as I remember. We were a family of knitters, crocheters and sewers of clothes. I remember a light purple and cream block quilt with light purple border which was made of wool . It was machine done but was so scratchy we (mom/dad/me) didn't like it and was relagated to the trunk in the attic. I loved rummaging in the trunks. Came across an applique butterfly comforter cover Aumnt Madeline did with very pretty purple/ other colors (purple I remember best) on white background with sashing. When we moved as Dad retired, all unnecessary stuff was given to the Salvation Army as he promised Mom new furniture-antique furniture, china cabinets, dishes -I loved the separated plates- along with the quilt comforter cover. Wish I had that now, still looking for the butterfly pattern of old but haven't found it-yet. It had nice rounded wings,on bottom also. Purple was kept and used as a beach blanket (horrors now!) and died a useful death. I'm sorry i didn't appreciate those things more when I had them, but I do now. Ah Hindsight.

alpha39

I must have been only 2 or 3, since I was still in a baby bed, when I took my naps my mom would always put a Sunbonnet Sue quilt over the baby bed like a tent and I would go to sleep looking at the "dolls". That was my first recollection of a quilt in the very early 1940's.

alpha39

I must have been only 2 or 3, since I was still in a baby bed, when I took my naps my mom would always put a Sunbonnet Sue quilt over the baby bed like a tent and I would go to sleep looking at the "dolls". That was my first recollection of a quilt in the very early 1940's.

Maralyn

At the age of 5-7 (many years ago), I would visit my paternal grandparents at the farmhouse they rented. There was a quilting frame set up in the back bedroom and although I'm sure there was always a quilt on it, I don't remember those. My aunt (being the only female child) got most of the quilts that were available when my grandmother died when I was 9 and maybe they were few in number. My cousin has one of those quilts and I was allowed to "borrow" it for a quilting presentation I did at the local community college. Of five granddaughters, I am the only one that quilts.