A couple of years ago my mother was given an unfinished quilt. It had been stored away, on a shelf or under someone's bed, for decades. Not one to let anything go to waste, Mom finished piecing the blocks, then assembled the quilt top. Last year she moved into a senior's home, and had to down-size her belongings, so I took the quilt top home with me. The last couple of weeks I've spent hours sewing, poking my fingers, hand-quilting this heirloom coverlet.

This project was started by a group of mothers and daughters including my grandmother and three of her daughters, in March of 1939. I'm proud to have finished it all these seventy years later. Interesting to read the names on the quilt. Names that aren't seen much any more, like Hattie, Mabel, Lucille, Effie and Myrtle.

I haven't come up with just the right photo of it yet, but maybe this one will do in the meantime.

Posted by Linda Frey on Tue, 12/01/09 13:25
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Comments by els mo on Tue, 12/01/09 14:09

What a great story, Linda. Good for you to finish this. I'm sure Hattie, Mabel, Lucille, Effie and Myrtle would be very pleased.
: )
I'd love to see close-up images of all the names on the quilt.


Comments by Alias on Tue, 12/01/09 14:25

Wonderful story indeed !
Seventy years and three generations of caring.
Great project ... a genuine heirloom ... finally completed.

I'll bet each of the ladies' survivors would treasure photos
featuring their family member's name.

A veritable patchwork of photographs.


Comments by Jan Bjorklund on Tue, 12/01/09 14:50

Wonderful photograph that catches the sense of a completed family task and your comments complete the story of the quilt.


Comments by John Long on Tue, 12/01/09 17:30

That's a really wonderful story Linda - I understand quilting is very popular in the USA and Canada - here in the U.K it is rarely done.


Comments by Linda Frey on Tue, 12/01/09 17:55

Thank-you, els, Donald, Jan and John. I'm glad that you enjoyed the story. Quilting used to be a social event back when this quilt was started. A time for women to get together, and an opportunity to impart sewing skills to young women. My mom would have been about sixteen then.

Here, for els, are the names:





Comments by Kara Lynn Bird on Tue, 12/01/09 18:03

Beautiful and something to be admired! Thank you for sharing such an intimate detail about your life. I adore this..


Comments by Ron Mahoney on Tue, 12/01/09 23:28

Linda
I hope you know what this quilt is worth on the market these days so dont let it out of your site it is a beautiful thing (am a collector also) and a quilt from that era is worth a small fortune in mint conditon. keep it out of the lite and dont let it fade.
Ron


Comments by Mike Hites on Wed, 12/02/09 00:10

Congrats on finishing it. Very nice!


Comments by Richard Dong on Wed, 12/02/09 23:05

Thanks for sharing this, it is a great story.


Comments by Paul Bracey on Thu, 12/03/09 02:20

Wow! That's awesome! - A nice piece of family history.


Comments by Maria Salvador on Sun, 12/06/09 11:45

:-)Ditto to Paul's comment - word by word!


Comments by Ruth Rittichier on Sun, 12/06/09 15:03

Great and useful piece of history to own and have participated in.


Comments by Steve Owen on Sun, 12/06/09 22:28

I agree with all of the above comments. Thanks for sharing this!