Three or More--Quilts From My Blanket Chest

• She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
• She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
• She is not afraid of the snow for her household...
• She maketh herself coverings of tapestry...
• She maketh fine linen...
• Give her of the fruit of her hands...

I love quilts--when done the old-fashioned way out of leftover fabrics, they combine beauty, thrift and function. Even with specially bought fabric, they speak of beauty and creativity and industry (personal industry, not industrial industry!) I'm not a quilter myself, but I have the privilege of owning several beautiful quilts that have been gifted to me over the years by their makers. (click on any of the pictures to see them larger, then click the "back" arrow to return to the post)
First up is the baby quilt that I've posted about previously, it's a "trip around the mountain" pattern, originally pieced in the late 50's, then actually completed and made into a quilt almost 30 years later in the 80's. It was pieced by my maternal grandmother, although she did not do the quilting herself in later years.

Next up is another "trip around the mountain" pattern, also from my Nanny. This was a gift when I was married, almost 26 years ago. What I especially love about this one is that I know so many of the fabrics. The blue no-wale corduroy was left from my first Home-Ec project--a jumper--when I was in junior high; there are scraps from a pink floral dress my mother made for me; a skirt that was my sister's, and the green checked gingham that was left over from my mother's kitchen curtains. It seemed as though everyone sewed back then, at least a little. If you didn't sew yourself, it was still common to buy the fabric and pattern and have things made specially for you by a seamstress. Everyone had fabric scraps, and most quilters were grateful for any "donations" you could spare. We always gave all of ours to Nanny; you never knew when it might appear later--in a quilt, or a pillow for our beds, or just a throw.

We used this one on our bed for years, then our son used it.


Unfortunately it's in pretty bad shape from it's many washings and dryings and hanging on the line--someday maybe I'll take the time to restitch it, even though there's little or no batting left between the layers


This is a much newer quilt, also pieced by my grandmother--I think this one is a variation of a nine patch. It was pieced on a sewing machine, but the quilting was done by hand.


Using the larger solid pieces mixed in with the 4 patch was a way that she could stretch her smaller scraps by mixing them with store-bought (vs leftover) fabric.


This is one of my favorites--there were only two of these made, I think my Aunt Faye ended up with another one like this, stripped together with either pink or yellow instead of the red. The backing is blue, so it has a really patriotic feel to it.

The white squares are individually hand embroidered--each square has a name of the one of the 50 states, along with a picture of the state bird and flower. The pattern for these came in a kit, which was ironed onto the fabric, then stitched by hand off and on over many years, in between other projects.

Can you even imagine the time and effort that went into making this?

We counted the squares after this one was done, and there is a flaw--a couple of the states are duplicated--I can't remember now which ones, but my Nanny and I stood and looked it over and found them one day when she was showing it to me--she just laughed and said that she guessed she miscounted the day she laid these out to strip together!

I confess I've never used this one--I can't bear to think of getting something on it, with all of the work that went into it-maybe someday on a guest bed that doesn't get used much!





And last but not least, this is a "log cabin" pattern, tied instead of quilted, made for us by my mother-in-law about 15-20 years ago, when our bedroom (along with almost everyone else's I knew!) was decorated in peach.

The colors don't come across very well on the larger picture, the fabric is all florals and tiny patterns in peach, cream, and brown. The underside is a solid of one of the lighter peach florals. I may have to pull this one back out and use it again, isn't it beautiful?

I'm a bit late to link this to Three-or-More Tuesday at the Gypsy's Corner, but better late than never!

For next week's Three or More, I'm participating in the Three-Projects-in-Three-Weeks Challenge, which is hosted by Treasures From the Heart. So be sure to come back next week for the big reveal!

This post is also linked to Vintage Thingie Thursday at Coloradolady. This week she is featuring a wonderful old cookbook--be sure to visit the other links, too, to see what lovely vintage "thingies" are floating around the blogosphere!

Until next time...