Friday, July 18, 2014

Ohhh My!

On Tuesday, I had an appointment with my grandmother. I've not talked about her much lately, but she's now 97 (and a half!), and still lives in her own home. She gets daily visits from my mother and my uncle, and frequent visits from several other family members, myself included. About a week ago she asked me if I'd schedule a day to come over and clean out the last of the sewing closet. She's told me for years - ever since she stopped quilting - that all of that stuff is mine, and now she'd decided it was time to get that closet emptied out.

Back seat. Back in the day I used to make baskets.

Rear, with batting squished in.

Rear, with batting removed.
Now, you may remember that I brought home a loaded sewing kit about a year ago when she got it in her head that she needed to dispose of some of her quilting and sewing supplies. Here's the link to that post. And an even earlier one is here.

For all of you organized sorts, no, I don't have room for this stuff, and no, I don't know what I will do with it all. I couldn't very well refuse it, though. I didn't want to refuse it! I will "know" a lot of the stuff in these boxes!

Nearly every box is labeled with the contents. Most of the labeling is in Grandma's hand, but my writing is on several, so I know that I have been through this stuff with her at some point, but Lord only knows how long ago that was!


 I took loads upstairs in phases. As I got a load into the room, I sat down and went through each box, photographing the contents. In the picture above, you can see how clearly labeled the boxes are. 



Over several days, I will share the contents of these boxes. When I say there are treasures, I am not kidding. I will show you two right now - complete quilt tops ready for quilting.


 Folded up just as neat as you please; I remember these being among the last of the things she worked on before giving up quilting entirely. Of course, they are scrap quilts. She had long stopped buying any more fabric. The task was to use up as much as she could.

This pinwheel quilt is 5 blocks by 6 blocks with a large sashing.

This star quilt is huge - 9 x 11 blocks.


Check out the piano key border, and the binding is attached, too.

What treasures. It will be fun to share all the goodies with you. Hope you'll check back!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

11 comments:

  1. You are so lucky to still have her. We say she is the family treasure. I can't wait to see the rest of the goodies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How wonderful that she wanted to share all this with you. You certainly have some treasures. I will look forward to seeing more.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marilyn, don't you hope we're doing as well as she is if we make it to 97? She's a marvel. Thanks for commenting,
    I usually respond to comments p with emails, but you are what's known as a "no-reply commenter. " looking forward to seeing you soon!

    ReplyDelete
  4. wow such fun treasures. you should see if there are any "stories" you need to capture on quilt labels for when these are finished up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So many treasures ...will be fun to see more as you go along / these are beautiful heirlooms : )

    ReplyDelete
  6. I would suggest that you go through and decide things you do want to keep and finish. The things that don't interest you could be donated to a quilting guild where they could be made into charity quilts. I know where I live there are many elderly quilters that are on very limited budgets who love to finish up UFOs...Amazing that she still lives on her own at 97!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looking at these I was thinking you could finish them as you have time and then save them to give as wedding gifts to family in the future. I know that our children treasure the things they have made by their great-grandmother.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is quite a treasure to have been given. These two quilt tops are wonderful!!! And how 'modern' with all the solids in there!! I hope you enjoy the boxes, yes, this would be almost overwhelming, but if you take it as slow as you need to, and just enjoy the process, you have found magic and I hope you will do what you need to do with this. Meaning, do not feel you have to keep it all - but do what you can with what you love and enjoy your new treasures!! Loved to see this post. And your Grandmother sounds like a treasure herself!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lucky you! Many years ago my mother-in-law gave me some fabric that she had from when her kids were little. I made my 4-year-old (or so) son some pajamas out of flannel that she had made pajamas for his daddy out of when he was little! Treasure these boxes and show us some fun things you create out of the old buttons, etc.!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What treasures you have been given. It's lovely for your family that your Grandma can prepare herself and everyone around her by making decisions about what she wants done with things. That must being her a lot of peace of mind in her late years.

    ReplyDelete

Feedback on my posts is always welcome!