I was searching through our spare bedroom closet and I found a few things that I forgot were in there. When we cleared out the room that our sons had for a bedroom, we had put away their quilts. This one has the story that involves the John and Iva Horton connection. John and Iva were step relatives that were more like grandparents to me when I was growing up. They would make quilts together and this particular set of blocks did not inspire her so she gave them to my mom. John and Iva did quilts with many small pieces so to have a large block didn't interest them.
The cloth they used for the blocks were Iva's old dresses and the background cloth was old when the put the pieces together. It never was a clean looking white because of it's age but the camera makes it look a lot more yellow that it really is. John was the one who sewed the pieces together on their old treadle sewing machine.
I find the patterns of the materials of her dresses to be unusual. One can date material by the interests and personal desires of the woman who were buying the material at the time.
My mom had taken the pieces and placed them in this red and blue grid. The quilt was on our youngest son's bed during his younger years until we replaced it with a serviceable bed spreads to save the quilt from destruction. My oldest son had a more Amish looking quilt that I will share later. There is always a story to go with them and this Amish one has an interesting take.
I also found a star burst quilt that I forgot that I had along with the quilt that we are going to now send to my youngest son. It was made by my mom for his graduation from high school and we saved it to give to him after he was married. The truth is that I couldn't find it and that is why I was in that closet. I will blog those next as I can't use up all my blogging material up in one day.
I have shared before that my mom made a lot of quilts and my grandmother and great grandmother also made quilts. I have all of those in the house and I now know that I am going to have to share them with the next generation. All of my nieces and nephews received quilts for their graduations so I am not hoarding them from her grandchildren. Actually I have them because I am the only left that knows they are a historic work of art. My great grandmother made works of art and my mom did the same but my grandmother Brooks made substantial practical quilts that were filled with blankets to keep people warm. I have two of those to decide what to do with and the patterns are plain block designs.
It is the weekend and we plan to go somewhere to hang out for awhile. No vacation yet in our lives so we will go shopping, bookstore browsing and pick up a sandwich in order to get out of town for a break. No rain today for a change. Thanks for stopping by..........
6 comments:
I'm so glad you shared this with us! I love old quilts and the stories they tell. I also like your mothers choice of sashing. I'm surprised you don't have your quilts displayed in your home since they are a work of art. Even folded up and nicely stacked on a bookshelf would look nice. As a quilter I want to encourage you to label your quilts with the name of the maker, year, presented to, and interesting tidbits like whose dress or shirt it was made from. I hope the next generation appreciate those quilts. I would love to have this one in my collection. ;D
BTW, Maine atlas is on it's way!
That is a very pretty quilt. I am fond of them too. I have a very old one that was made my great grandmother. It is around 125 years old. I need to think about passing it on to someone. Unfortunately no one in my family likes antiques or appreciates old things. I hate to sell it to a stranger, but I would rather have it end up with someone who will treasure it than have someone just dispose of it.
Cool pattern....Looks like a sailing ship! I can't belive that quilting is so HUGE here in Iowa! It's everywhere! On barns, and even the streets you see the various patterns. This might sound strange, but being an outsider from a place where quilting was a "hobby" at best, seeing a quilting culture like this here first hand is pretty cool.
You are very fortunate to have these works of art Larry. I love the scraps from Iva's old dresses. It's great these days to have a blog to document these treasures that have been kept lovingly for so long and to share with those of us who treasure such workmanship. I look forward to viewing all the different quilts.
Hope you two have a lovely Sat. afternoon outing.
Hi Larry, Lovely quilt..they do look like sailing ships..and you have the John and Iva connection and your Mothers choice of material in the borders to make this a special one. Make a quilt rack, put them in baskets or put them on a shelf..use them once in awhile and feel the love that went into them. I love the old very graphic and loud prints that little old ladies wore..perfect for quilts especially those large flower prints:)
The old quilts always have stories behind them....I am always kind of sad to see them sold at estate sales or auctions...someone in those families should keep them.
Post a Comment