Monday Memories--Mom's quilt plan for the grandchildren

I was looking for a small red ribbon to tie a little note my son had given me for Mother's Day (in a bottle), and the drawer in the sewing cabinet jammed.  When I finally got it open I found a plastic bag with floss and two hexagon cut embroidery pieces for a quilt on a very light weight white fabric--one for Ohio with cardinal and carnation, and the other North Carolina with cardinal and dogwood.  Each has the date they entered the union, Ohio in 1803, the 17th, and North Carolina which was 1789, the 12th of the original 13 colonies. It was a challenge to reconstruct this memory, but I finally remembered that my mother had brought them with her on a trip to Ohio because our daughter had been working on embroidery skills. I'm not sure, but I think it was Mom's plan to hand these out to the various grandchildren and then have them pieced into a quilt.  Great idea, but if the others didn't get any further than ours I don't think it ever came together.

This is her note for the correct colors for the pattern, sort of worse for the wear being 40 years in a plastic bag--but I would know that handwriting anywhere. Seeing her letters drop through the mail slot made my day for many years. These items hadn't been in the sewing cabinet 40 years, but a few months ago I had donated my "stash" to the Cancer resale store up the street, and probably decided to save these, and then immediately forgot them.

The pattern stamp had faded, so I couldn't scan them for this blog. I sorted through some google searches for "hexagon embroidery quilt patterns U.S. state birds", and actually did find one sample of a hexagon for Missouri, although the most common were squares.

Mom's note on the color strands

  

   

Friday Family Photo--the baby quilt

February 1969, patchwork baby quilt made by my mother.

"Of all the treasures I can boast
I love the patch-work quilt the most.
She pieced it in the long ago,
With patient stitches, fine and slow,
Each block devised of dark and light
Small diamond pieces, looking quite
Like piled-up boxes, or like stairs
To lead you upwards unawares.

I almost hear her voice once more
And see the quaint old things she wore,
The dolman, and the Paisley shawl,
Myself a child again, and all
My childish faith and love surge up
To fill my worn heart's empty cup;
Of all the things she once possessed,
I love the patch-work quilt the best."

"The Patch-Work Quilt," by Eve Egleston Hoyt, 2nd and 6th verses
If I'd made a few notes in 1969, I could have identified most of the fabric in this patch work quilt my mother made. Not today. The memories are gone. In fact, I lifted this photo and poem from my Memory Patterns blog written in 2005--and reading through it, if I hadn't recorded some of those items even 5 years ago, they'd be lost forever. Even if you have no interest in blogging current events as I like to do, a blog is wonderful for family memories and photos (but please, not every step they take--be selective).

And here are the babies in my daughter's kitchen, just yesterday as we went over the river and through the "woods" to celebrate Thanksgiving at her house. Oh, I love having adult children who can cook for me. We had the most fabulous leftovers for dinner last night--and they sent the carcass home with me--we'll have wonderful soup and casseroles.

We had a wonderful holiday, and I hope you all did too.

Three Word Wednesday

Bone has posted for 3WW

Punch
T-shirt
Unravel

for us to play with this week. Before I checked the clues, I was sorting laundry, and again thinking about how I could turn the old t-shirts from VBS, traveling, library conferences and organizations into a quilt. My mom used to cut t-shirts into strips and crochet the fabric into rugs, but quilting them saves the event or organization, and thus your memories. I've got San Antonio, Seattle and Shedd's Museum. I've got a "I heart my library," and Walk with Majors. I've got a Lakeside Ohio tour of my husband's projects. I've got dogs, horses and kitties. So here's my little poem. The photo is from Goose tracks and she will quilt t-shirts supplied by you for a fee, if you're not crafty or don't have the time.

Punch up the memories,
unravel the past,
cut up those t-shirts,
the first and the last

Arrange the design
and a contrasting thread,
make a new coverlet
to place on the bed.

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New restaurant in Marblehead

Yesterday we enjoyed breakfast at Avery's in Marblehead, OH. It's a new place, almost next door to the book store that is raising money for the new library, on the main street (i.e., Main St.) through town. Wonderful baked goods, yummy pancakes, fresh fruit. It fills up early. We got there about 8 a.m., but when we left at 9, it was full. There's also a new coffee shop I hadn't seen before. Coffee spills, possibly, or is that the name of my other, other blog? We went with Lakesiders Jim and Marian from Toledo. She's also a retired librarian.



Do you like to quilt? Quilts by Elsie sells quilt patterns for lighthouses. Here's one for Marblehead.

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Amazing gifts for women soldiers

If you ever need a reason to feel crummy about your craft skills, just go visit a knitter or quilter's blog! Oh my goodness those folks are talented. Somewhere on a shelf in my laundry room I have some yarn and needles, but have never even made it to "purl." Today I wandered into the blog home of Debra Spincic of Texas. Not only is her own work amazing, but she had photos of a quilt show that I assume is a local Texas group. Then scrolling down, I see she is buying quilt tops on e-Bay, having them quilted (finished, I assume), and then they will go to injured women soliders at Walter Reed. See her project here. Here's the quilt show favorites she featured.

I'm so depressed by my total lack of talent, I'm going out for coffee where I'll try to post my poetry for our Poetry Thursday assignment, "Think of places that most need to see a poem. Think of people who most need to read a poem. Go to those places, to those people and leave your words for them to find."

Quilt Show Photos

I went back to the Mill Run Church this afternoon with my digital camera and took some pictures. I don't have a great camera and am sort of inexperienced at this, but I hope it will give you the idea. There are about 40 pieces, wall hangings, quilts, and pillows in a show described here.

This is a close-up of "Lyle's Letter to Santa." You can see the 7 year old's handwritten letter on the Ohio Star, bordered with fabric reminiscent of the early 20th century.

This is a close-up of the hand drawn squares done by children in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami which were pieced and quilted here by our quilt ministry to be returned to them after this show.

This is a family history quilt using photo transfers and it has matching pillows.

The texture of the cantaloupe is achieved by the different depth of the stitching. This is a small wall hanging.

The show is at The Church at Mill Run, 3500 Mill Run Drive, Hilliard, OH 43026, and it continues through February 24, 2006. The church web site is http://www.ualc.org

Quilting
Quilt shows