Wednesday, June 4, 2008

"I Remember Laura" Blog-a-thon


"On Sundays Mary and Laura must not run or shout or be noisy in their play. Mary could not sew on her nine-patch quilt, and Laura could not knit on the tiny mittens she was making for Baby Carrie. They might look quietly at their paper dolls, but they must not make anything new for them. They were not allowed to sew on doll clothes, even with pins."

~Little House in the Big Woods, Chapter 5, Sundays~
~Laura Ingalls Wilder~
Welcome to week one of the "I Remember Laura" Blog-a-thon! This weeks theme is Quilted Memories. Laura and her sister, Mary, were started in the needle arts at a very young age. They learned to sew, quilt, knit, and stitch samplers. A simple quilt pattern they first learned to make was a pattern called the nine patch. This week we will share our own quilted memories by telling our stories and sharing pictures of our special quilts or quilt related items.

While I have never done a 9-patch quilt, I have begun a shoo-fly (and variations) quilt. We also own quilts my grandmother and Jim's grandmother made.

Here is my grandmother's quilt. As I understand it, she pieced this quilt and asked her sister-in-law Gertrude to quilt it. My grandmother's vision was very poor as she had cataracts. She was blind for the first 3 years of my father's life. When her vision finally returned, she had to wear "Coke-bottle" glasses just to see a very blurry image.



There is a story I was told about how my Grandma Ashcroft's home was always spotless. She was so concerned that she would be heavily criticized if her home was not clean that she would literally go over every inch of her living room with her hands to make sure nothing was out of place and that it was dust free. Back in those days, quilts were made out of leftover fabric from other sewing so there would have been a story behind every fabric. Unfortunately, I do not know the stories, but the care and love is obvious.

My husband's grandmother made the next quilt for him when he was married. I think it went everywhere with him! I need to repair some places where the stitching is torn, but even those are indicative of the comfort it brought him in hard times.




Do you or someone in your family quilt? Do you have a special quilt story? Then share it by linking up here. Perhaps your quilt is not hand made but special to you none the less, then share it too.


9 comments:

Carrie said...

Thanks for sharing your heirloom quilts.

Ceekay-THINKIN of HOME said...

Your quilts are beautiful. The star one is like the one I showed on my blog...but yours is prettier! Thanks for sharing!!

Anonymous said...

I read your site two or three times a-week. This post made me cry.

The last projects I did with my little girl KC, came from the Laura Ingals Wilder Sewing book. She made a nine-patch pillow that was buried with her. We were halfway through the second little house book, when she passed.

Kate

Decor To Adore said...

Your grandmother should be an inspiration to us all, what a beautiful quilt.

Aelwyn said...

Both quilts are beautiful! I love to hear the stories behind the quilts - or is that in the quilts?

Carrie said...

Hello,
Thanks for your visit. You mentioned the need for blue and white china and said the jasperware fit the bill. Hope you can view the posts below for my real blue and white dishes.
Carrie

Jan 15 ‘08
http://oakrisecottage.blogspot.com/2008/01/hot-tea-and-teacup-collection.html

Apr. 18 ‘08
http://oakrisecottage.blogspot.com/2008/04/friday-show-and-tell-everyday-dish.html

Oct. 9 ‘08
http://oakrisecottage.blogspot.com/2007/10/consignment-catch-ii.html

Denise said...

Neat post! What a special lady your Grandmother was. Thank you for sharing this post.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Vee said...

Such love expressed in the making of a quilt and especially so when one has challenges and limitations. The colors in the first quilt are fabulous! Thank you for sharing your story and your quilts. I liked how you said that your husband found much comfort in the quilt created especially for him.

Sandy said...

Your quilts and their stories are priceless! The star quilt is fantastic! Thank you for sharing your quilts and their stories and for joining the blog-a-thon.

Blessings,
Miss Sandy