Redwork

This quilt has fascinated me as long as I can remember. It was made by my great grandmother the first year of her marriage.  Imagine – one year. All this loving stitching. The embroidery, the piecing, the hand quilting.

Again the signature on the quilt has proven ever so important. Name, place, date – 1894. No, I’m not quite named after her. I’m named after my grandmother, who in turn was named after her mother (the maker of this quilt), who was named after her mother. It’s quite an honor and was actually a little painful for me not to name my daughter Anna.

Redwork was quite popular back in the day. (A little thank you to my knitting circle for help with the term redwork.)  I’ve heard it said that many images were taken from magazines and greeting cards. Wouldn’t it be something to know where these images came from? Did she copy them from cards given to them for their wedding or did she make some of them up herself? Too bad she didn’t have a blog for me to read about her process.

There are many images of flora & fauna:

Scenes of people:

As well as the unexpected. Gnomes and elves?!

And even a mystery. Who is E.D.? I don’t know. It wasn’t her husband. Maybe a child lost?

Thank you Great Grandma. You’ve left quite the legacy.

Quilting Tour

I was inspired to document the family quilts that last time I was at my mom’s house. The lighting was poor for the little time I was there. Even so, the number of pictures I took was daunting. I just got so excited by the details and the history of it all I took entirely too many pictures.

I’ve never quilted but I’m fascinated by it. Someday I’d like to give it a go, but for now I’ll keep to small projects. My mother has done some fabulous quilting including this cowboy quilt for Seth. I believe this quilt is the reason Seth has commented on how his Grandma is MUCH better at sewing than his mom. While this may be true, did he need to say it with so much emphasis right in front of me?

Anyway, back to the lineage. My grandma did not quilt to my knowledge. She was much too much of a 50’s modern woman for that. Her sister however, did try her hand resulting in the Dresden Plate quilt you see above that was completed in 1927. (I just love how some quilts are signed & dated. Making a mental note now to do so if I ever make one.) The true quilter of the family, however, was my great grandmother. The rest of the quilts in this post are hers.

There’s the Flower Basket quilt:

The Crown of Thorns quilt:

A couple very tattered, well loved quilts from my mother and uncle’s childhood beds:

A postage stamp baby quilt. (pretty sure my mom didn’t show this one to me until I had no use for a baby quilt on purpose)

Another postage stamp quilt, but just the top with a note to my mother:

But wait. I’ve saved the best one for……….. the next post. I mean, how many photos can I put in one single post after all? I promise it’s the best one of all. I think I took as many pics of it as I did of all the rest.