Thursday, April 22, 2010

Granny's Quilts

I finally found a day where I had time to drag all the quilts out onto the clothesline!



This is what started it all. When DH and I married, his mom gave us this quilt (and the bug was planted), This Lone Star graced our bed for years:




Then the kids started coming along. She made this one when DS was born. Looks like I might need to freshen this one up with a run through the wash. It's been hibernating in the cedar chest for a lot of years.



This one almost three years later when DD arrived:

Granny made a flannel one for each child as well, but those really were loved to pieces...literally.


A few years later she made this one for DS.This is the first quilt I ever worked on. She sent the blocks, had me cut out the applique pieces, and iron them on.
Then she made this Sunbonnet Sue for DD who loved to wear hats when she was little. Each block has a unique button stitched on it and every block is different. One of the Sunbonnet Sue's is even chasing a turkey with a hatchet! LOL! Love the prairie points and I hope to try those on a quilt soon! One day we were visiting Granny and Grandpa and Granny was showing me a few of her newest creations. She picked up a blue jean quilt and a flannel quilt and tossed them aside. I said, "Wait! What are those?" She answered, "Just a couple other quilts I made, but no-one will want them." I told her that our kids cherished the quilts she had given them and she said, "They are the only ones of the grand kids that do appreciate them. Do you think they would want them?"


Um...yes! So DS has the Blue Jean one. It's rag quilt with red flannel:

Oops! Can't find it anywhere. What do you wanna bet DS snuck it off to college!


And DD has the flannel one that she still snuggles with at night. She has loved all the flannel right out of it.



About 10 years ago this was my Christmas gift: It's flannel too and hangs at the foot of our bed where we often pull it up at night. We often sleep with the windows open and more often than not, the desert air gets pretty chilly in the early morning hours so I reach down, pull up this cozy quilt, and whisper a prayer of thanks to Granny, before dozing back off.


I have this little strip quilt on the back of our couch. It's all little strips of leftover western fabric.

Then she once gave me this little lap quilt:
Grandma Kate made it. Grandma Kate was Grandpa's Grandma - the kids, great, great, grandma! Love that those prints are once again all the rage and that we have a piece of this wonderful family history.


Now, Granny generally makes smaller projects. Lots of table toppers like this one. Sorry I didn't iron out the creases. This is a Christmas table topper, but it sure did photograph funny. The middle of the blocks look brownish, but they are actually have hollyberries.


and wall hangings like this:

Granny doesn't machine quilt anything so all of these are hand quilted.
So I can either blame this obsession on my MIL who gave me my first quilt or on her son, whom I married!

My only fear is now that the bug has hit me full force and I am making them myself, she won't give us any more! I need to remedy that because we treasure every piece she's ever given us and I fully adhere to the principal that one can never have too many quilts!

Just got off the phone with Granny and I told her that even though I was now making quilts, we still loved the ones she gave us and she told me I was getting one for Christmas! Yippee! But how in the heck am I supposed to wait until Christmas now?!

Once the kids even wrote a poem all by themselves about her quilts when they were 7 and 9 and they recited it for her. Granny doesn't cry, but she teared up that day. I'll include it here:

Granny's Quilts

Some of Granny's quilts are big
Some of them are small
Some of Granny's quilts are short
Some of them are tall.

Granny's quilts are blue and yellow
Red, and pink, and green
And every color
In between.

Granny's quilts make us smile
They keep us warm and snug
When we wrap up in them
It feels just like a hug.

We love to look at Granny's quilts
They're beautiful and bright
When we curl up with them
They make us smile with all our might

Some of Granny's quilts have buttons
Some have pictures of candy
And every time it's cold outside
They make us feel just dandy!

We treasure her quilts
When we read at night
They're fun to hide under
Reading by flashlight.

Granny's quilts are full of love
She quilts them day by day
Granny's quilts are awesome
In every sort of way!

We love you Granny!

A clothesline full of quilts has to be one of my favorite sights!

6 comments:

Shelljo said...

beautiful! My grandma also hand quilted, and I treasure the quilt she made me.

Paula said...

I think that was probably one of the most beautiful posts you've ever done. The quilts are fabulous! I wish I had the patience, I wish I had those quilts!

Blessings~
P.

Shelby said...

those are beautiful! especially the first one

Anonymous said...

What a neat post! :)

NaomiG said...

What a lovely lovely post, and what an amazing collection you have. I'm jealous--I wish I had a quilt collection like that!! I guess I'll be the one making them for my family... awwww.

Shelly said...

What a treasury! I, too, have all my grandmother's quilts, and I cherish them all above my own.

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