A Quilt Story

I normally would only post pictures of quilts if I was working on a new quilt or had finished one and had pictures of the completed quilt.  But, life happens and sometimes there is a sad quilt story.  Thankfully, this is rare!

Two weeks ago the house my stepdaughter, her husband and three children (ages 2, 4 and 6)  were living in caught fire and they lost almost everything.  The wonderful thing about this tragic event is that they all got out safely without having a hair on their head hurt.  Thanks be to God!  They were renting this house while waiting for a new house to be built.  Thankfully they bought a smoke detector since there was not one there.  The smoke detector woke them from a deep sleep, each parent grabbed a child or two and ran outside.  They put the children in their van.  The fire was spreading so quickly they could not even go back in to get the keys to the van!!!  They only were wearing what ever they were sleeping in.  No shoes.  No coats (and it was a cold night).  I don't have to say any more about how close a call this was!  Sadly, two dogs didn't survive.

We are so thankful that they got out and also for another wonderful thing that came out of this situation.  The family and community have been absolutely amazing!  They were offered a fully furnished house to stay in at no cost.  By the second day after the fire they were living in this generously offered home.   They have been given so many things, including cash and replacement clothes, toys, etc.  They are overwhelmed with the kindness of people they have never even met!  Honestly, they have more clothes than they have ever had.   It will be a long time before everything is replaced.  You don't think about all the "things" we need and use everyday.  The list goes on and on, from driver's licenses to a basic screwdriver.  But they are doing just fine!  In a few months they will be able to move into their new "forever" home.

As we all know, "things" can be replaced!

My stepson-inlaw brought me these quilts that I had made, to see if they could be saved.  I tried very hard, but for most of them, it just wasn't meant to be.  The chemicals in the smoke or soot on them acted as some type of acid which ate holes in the fabric, dissolved quilting threads and quilt batting.  It was also impossible to get the stains out and I'm not sure if the smoke smell could have been removed.

Only one of the quilts is salvageable.  It is the quilt I made back in  early 2011 shown HERE and the name of it is "Farmhouse Magic":  It was stored in a closet that was at the opposite end of the house from where the fire started and only had a couple of small spots on it.  I think it will be just fine.  I aired it out on the clothesline for several hours and then washed and dried it as normal.


THIS sailboat baby quilt that I named "Blue Skies From Now On" was at the daycare, so it was safe! There were three more baby quilts that couldn't even be found.


Here are before and after pictures of the ones I tried to save: 

I already had in my mind (on that never ending quilt dream list) a plan to make each of the children a new twin size quilt.  So I'm going to get on that ASAP.  It takes me a while to make a quilt, but maybe you'll see some progress on that soon.

Have a great day and check those smoke detectors!

Grandbaby on a quilt

Its so nice to put some of those quilts that I worked so hard on to good use. I wanted to take some pictures of Baby Jake outside and so I grabbed the Cheddar Bow Ties quilt.

These are pictures from an old post of the Cheddar Bow Ties Quilt.
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I can't think of a better use for a hand made quilt that to put a precious grandchild on it on a beautiful day!

A Gift of Barn Quilts

My hubby and I celebrated our anniversary yesterday and what better gift for a quilter than a barn quilt?  Thanks Honey!

We have two outside buildings, a small one and a large one. This one will go on the smaller building, which is a light beige color.  I looked up this pattern and as best I can tell its a "Union Square" variation.

This one will go on the larger building, which is barn red.   The lady who sells them called it a "Stacked Star", but I didn't see it in my Quilt Block Book.

I will post pictures as soon as they are installed on the barns.

A Quilt Well Used....

When I make a quilt for a gift, I want the recipient to REALLY use it! No worries in that regard for the Graduation Quilt.

Before:



After:



This is another good reason not to obsess over ironing the quilt top and quilt backing. Once it is quilted, washed and used, you will never know how well you ironed it!

A Quilt, or simply a Quilt Top?

This Quilt belongs to a coworker/friend of mine who after telling me about it, brought it for me to see. It was given to her by another friend whose aunt had made it. From her description I thought it would be a quilt top that had never been quilted.

But, after seeing it I decided it was meant to be used as it is. It consists only of the top with no quilt batting or backing. Its COMPLETELY hand sewn using polyester fabric, which makes it quite heavy. Since the squares are set on the diagonal, this makes the edges have a pointy edge, like "prairie points".

Its a beautiful pattern and lots of work went into it! Have any of you ever seen such a quilt that has no backing or batting?

Quilt Stories - Another of Grandma's Vintage/Antique Quilts

This quilt belongs to my daughter and was made by her Great Grandma. I really don't know how old it is, but it is very old. I've been told that to be considered an antique, an item must be over 100 years old, so it might not qualify as an antique.

This is a pattern that I would like to duplicate in a future quilt!

The backing fabric was made from a salt bag, not feed sacks. You can see the "Morton Salt" imprint in this picture, if you look really closely. Its kind of faded.



This is a picture of my Grandma holding my newborn daughter, who now owns this quilt.

Quilt Stories - My First Real Quilt

In 1998 I made my first "real" quilt for my daughter. She had just left home for college and I wanted to make something special for her.



I had always dreamed of making quilts and quilt making was a part of my soul, even before I actually made one.

My first memories of this quilt obsession was when I was about 10. I collected squares of fabric in a box, but never made the quilt. I Don't know what ever happened to that box of squares.

In the early 1980s I ordered Georgia Bonesteel's Lap Quilting book through the mail. I would sit and study this book for hours. I didn't have a quilt frame, so lap quilting was the answer!

So my first real quilt was a Sampler Quilt made from the patterns in this book. The anchor fabric was a "cat" print in blues, browns, and beiges. My daughter liked cats and the color blue a lot when she was young.

Here are close ups of a few of the blocks:

GRANDMOTHER'S FAN



MONKEY WRENCH



PINWHEEL AND CARD TRICKS



CRAZY PATCH



LITTLE DUTCH GIRL/SUNBONNET SUE



SAILS IN THE SUNSET



HOUSE ON THE HILL



THE BACK OF THE QUILT



Not shown is the top right hand block which is a friendship block. In the center is a square that I cross stitched my daughter's name, the date and my name, with love, of course.

Quilt Stories

There are so many stories associated with quilts. Each quilt has its own story and every quilt block pattern has a story or history. I'd like to write some posts about some of these stories.

By the time I finish making a quilt, it becomes a part of me. You spend hours and hours planning it, working with it, spending time with it and touching it. I even lay awake at night sometimes worrying about it. We give them special names and give them to special people. An awful lot of love goes into a quilt!

Baby Quilts made with love for my grandson, two years ago:



Here's one example of the history of quilting:

In the early days of quilting, many religious quilters felt that only God is perfect (I agree!), so they would deliberately make a mistake, which they called a "God Fear Patch" or "God Fear Square".

I can assure you that not all errors fall into this category! My quilts are always flawed in some way, but this gives the quilt character in my opinion. I strive for perfection, but I'm never going to make it. Only God is perfect! But, I hope that the love that I put into each quilt will overcome any imperfections.

If you make a mistake on a quilt or other craft, that can't be fixed, do you let it go or start all over?