"She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27

Friday, June 8, 2012

Nanny's Quilts

As many of you know, my dad passed away last week.  My stepmother had four quilts that my grandmother made.  When she passed away 20 years ago I was 18 and I got her jewelry box.  So when Marge told me she had a quilt from Nanny I was really excited.  I had to laugh because she told Marge to give one to me, one to my sister and one to my step brother when we were responsible adults.  I guess I'm a responsible adult now at 38- LOL.  Just kidding, I'm sure they got tucked away and forgotten.
One of my fondest memories of my grandmother was going to quilting bees with her at church when I was little.  My job was to crawl under the quilting loom and they would thread the yarn through and hand me the needle (under the quilt) and I would push the needle back up to her or one of the other ladies.  I guess I got the quilting bug from her!  She always had a huge fabric stash sitting next to her sewing machine.
I already had one quilt she had made me when I was a little girl.  It is a scrap quilt and is falling apart now because I have used it so much! I've slowly been trying to repair it.  I think it is funny to look at the "70s" material used in it.
Do you have any idea how hard it was to choose a quilt for me and a quilt for my sister?  My sister was not able to make it to my daddy's funeral.  There were two matching quilts and two hexagon quilts.  I decided from the beginning to pick the same quilt for my sister that I picked for myself.
Here is the first quilt.  Can anyone tell me the name of the pattern?
I love the pink trimmed scalloped borders.  I was going to pick these two quilts since they were identical and I love the pattern and borders.  I can see my Nanny making these two quilts with my sister and I in mind.  But Marge, my step mom, said that there were no names applied to the quilts and to choose whichever one I wanted.   She was always making us matching clothes.  Here is the other one.  Is it weird to say that I feel a connection to these quilts?  I just love them and miss them already!  Here is information on this quilt!    It is a circle upon circle quilt, or glorified nine patch.
I keep second guessing myself and thinking I should have picked these, I love them!
But....I kept being drawn to the hexagons!  They are so tiny, I'm guessing one inch!  hey were all hand quilted, I know the hexies were hand pieced for sure.  The first is a Grandmother's Flower Garden (I'm making one now with 3 inch hexies).  At first I was going to pick this one because I love the green sashing!

Look how she finished the edges, she did a "whipstitch?" around it.  I think she might have used English paper piecing for the hexies, I'm not sure.  I love the hexie border though!
She "stitched in the ditch" when she quilted it, I love the materials she used on it.  I won't be seeing my sister for six weeks, so until then I am displaying it and enjoying it on my quilt rack.  I am going to give this one to my sister, I think she will really like it.  I also have my scrappy quilt that Nanny made me on it.  That was a practical quilt.
I decided to keep the diamond set hexies.  Can you see the background pattern of the prism cubes?


I just think this "modern"  (LOL) pattern is awesome!  I do not know how old these quilts are, they would have to be over 20 years old since that was when she passed away, but I don't when she made them.  Here is a closer view, there is also a star pattern if you look at it differently.
 Do you see the white flower in the middle where the diamonds connect?
 I love all of the scrappy materials she used in all of the hexies, especially the ginghams and that purple calico and the pink butterflies from above.
Here is it's new home, it's not a real quilt rack, but it serves the purpose!

It looks like she cut the hexies on this one and added a white border and then the binding on this one.  Or she might have made half hexies and sewn them in since the bottom of the diamonds on the edge have white hexies?  I think I like this one the best because it is nice and soft as if it has been used and the other one feels  new.
Here is a picture of my Nanny.  My quilt is the most special thing I got because not only is it something to remember my daddy by but something to remember Nanny by also.  She was German, Genevieve Williams, her friends called her Janey.
Thank you for letting me share my quilts and memories with you!
Happy quilting!
Missy

10 comments:

Suzy said...

What precious treasures! Thank you for sharing! The quilts my grandmother and great-grandmother are stored away in my mother's house; at 56 I guess I'm still not "responsible" enough to have them! I asked my 86 yr old mother for her good pair of dressmakers shears last weekend, haven't been used in 30 yrs. She said she's "consider it." :O

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

The quilts are so pretty, I love that design you are wondering about too.

Anonymous said...

What beautiful quilts. I have some that my grandmother made that I treasure, also. Enjoy your new heirloom!

SewLisa :o)

barbara woods said...

beautiful quilts if you find that pattern let us know on your blog

Pam~ Virginia Retro said...

Visiting from VTT. What a wonderful post, and an honor to your grandmother! What gorgeous work she did, I can't even begin to imagine. You quilt also? I really admire quiltewrs, such amazing talent! Pam

LV said...

A very nice visit and seeing your quilts. I have several vintage and new. I love them and have one like the flower garden pattern.

Sally Annie Magundy said...

They're all so beautiful and precious! How wonderful to finally have one of your own to cherish and treasure.

Happy VTT!

Annie said...

The name of the block in the quilt with the nine patches is called Improved 9-Patch.

Sarah said...

How very luck to inherit one of her quilts. I would have been torn which one to pick as well...

Quilter Kathy said...

I loved seeing all these wonderful quilts! What a hard decision you had to make to chose from these amazing treasures!

"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him." Psalm 34:8