Confirmation from Gramma Flo

I've been following Lazy Gal Liberated Amish 2010 Get Together - great stuff going on over there!  My resolve has been weakening and I took a trip to the stacks to find Cherrywood remnants I purchased in Paducah years ago.  In the same container was a cardboard box I inherited from my Gramma Flo.  I gave the box a cursory glance years ago when my life didn't include time for quilting.  I remembered a section of a Wedding Ring quilt, but not much else.  This small Welch's Grape Jelly box is overflowing with 30's fabrics and pieced blocks. 

There are 29 machine-pieced Dresden Plate circles.  Three have the centers appliqued.  They lay fairly flat without the center, but adding it creates a definite ruffle.

A bonanza of depression era stars - 41 hand-pieced stars with 1/8" seam allowance.  Some of the fabrics are rather thin, but all in great shape. 

There are a few orphan blocks (auditioning?) and the Wedding Ring I remembered.

Finding my Great Grandma Stanley's work has left me with mixed emotions.  Of course I'm thrilled to be the recipient, but I'm sad that her handwork, representing hours of her life, has been unappreciated for decades.  I'm assuming the quilt pieces are from Grandma Stanley because she pieced appliqued butterfly quilt tops (outlined in black buttonhole stitch) for my mom and aunt in 1934 as a Christmas gift.  Sadly, the tops were never quilted and have been folded in a closet for over 70 years.  I inherited my mom's (still unquilted).  Recently, I asked my aunt about her butterfly top and she couldn't remember what she did with it.  Those quilt tops were only inscribed with the recipient's initial ('D' for my mom and 'E' for my aunt) and 'XMAS 1934'.  Within a couple generations, the maker will be anonymous. 

I've mentioned a couple times that I'm trying to finish up projects.  I've been chipping away at the UFO pile and have finished four tops in the last year.  So, Gramma Flo is confirming my decision to 'finish what I start' (at least those I still like) and maybe what Grandma Stanley started, too.   I don't want the quilts in my head to be only pieces in a cardboard box .

Stories from the Textiles

'Stories from the Textiles' is the current exhibit at the Westchester Township History Museum.  This signature quilt (347 names) was a fund raiser for the Ladies Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Burdick, IN in 1896.  John Wolford was the high bidder at $100!  The applique was applied by machine and the quilt was beautifully hand-quilted.



The exhibit includes two beautiful Jacquard coverlets.   The first coverlet was woven in 1852 by John Garis, professional weaver and surveyor.

The second coverlet was woven in 1853 by Danial and Levi Fisher, professional weavers from South Bend, IN.







There are four exceptional hexagon pieces by Hannah Morgan Hassell circa 1850 - these pieces alone are worth a visit. 

If you're in the area, stop in - no charge.  The museum is housed in the Brown Mansion built in 1885.

Strange as it may sound, during my visit I discovered that in 1942 my dad brought his future bride (my mom) flowers to celebrate her high school graduation day!