Friday, February 1, 2008

My very First







A sleepy just-woke-up grandaughter and the first quilt I ever attempted. I was stupid, I was heartfelt, and I was a rookie. What can I say???



The tiny pink flowers are from my Great-granny's apron, the pink/red/white plaid is from fabric that my grandmother made curtains out of in the 50's?/60's?, the mint is fabric left from a blouse she made for herself. On a corner is a heart cut from my mother's "lucky" bingo blouse. It has been loved, tossed, spit-up on, and washed a thousand times and it is the softest hug you could ever imagine. I made it for the baby shower when Katie and Tony were expecting Elizabeth, and she is now 4, almost 5.



Elizabeth just left, dragging her "bankie" with her. And Granny's heart swells with every hug............... please hang on while I grab a tissue, sniff, sniff...










This is the second quilt, easy-peasy!!! This was for James, DS1, It was a strippy with a cha-cha-chi-wowie animal print on the back for his wife, our wild child! tee hee,( lets see if she reads this) It has various strips from my Grampa's suit (brown solid)lt tan & black solid), Nanny's fabric, and one of the maternity tops I wore when I was pregnant for him,(black gingham)I can hear it now, what a pack rat she is, and you, my dear reader are absolutely right!!! I have GOT to call that 1-800 number in the morning!! The quilt was ooh-ed and ahh-ed over but it was huge, hard to handle, and it was sooooo hard to keep the strips straight, I had no idea I was supposed to sew one strip left and the next strip to the right. So, I ended up taking it apart many times to take the half-moon shape out of it,,,,,geez oh pete, it took a long time!)


The third quilt I made for our RV and it is still out there, with 3 feet of snow, so I have no picture of it. It is just a plain machine quilted thing, with acorns and pine needles on it. For camping, you know.


Then, my beautiful-but-fashion-impaired Mom Passed to be with the Lord, and she left us 61 pair of the same pants, well, some were black, some were brown, some pink, some green, navy, rose, tan, purple...you get the idea. They were all stretch, double knit, polyester, perma-seam down the front, slacks. All were whacked off and stitch-witchery-ed to a perfect 23 inch inseam. And here it is, Gramma's Pants:

Which reminds me, I have to do a Gramma's Pants for the boys, too. I donated all the black (29 pair) but who else is 4'9" and wears double knit pants? in purple? or lime green? just what I thought, too.

So, dear reader, now you know why I'm so proud of Tony's quilt, it's the best one yet!!! An actual pattern and everything, (I can learn,,,I can learn,,,I can learn,,,)

And sew on and sew forth!

lyn

3 comments:

Finn said...

Hi Lyn, I had to pop over and see where you put in your stitches *VBS*
Welcome to blogland! I love your quilts, including the first one. I think you have a rare gift, which isn't often fun in younger quilters. It's the ability to make YOUR quilts, not the book or magazine or quilt teachers quilt.
I'm totally in favor of, and almost do add vintage scraps along with the newer stuff when I'm pieceing. It's been questioned alot by friends and fellow quilters. Why do I do it? I'm really big on 'connections' and I just like seeing 'them' in my quilts.
I suppose my quilts tell a story of sorts,and as my eyes run over the pieces and linger here and there, it pleases me. What more reason would I need? *VBS*
Your Jakey's Ladder is just precious, luck son, lucky grandson.
And your little Ken and Barbie quilt is wonderful. It's good to let the child is us out to play.
Just keep up the great work you are already doing, and welcome aboard! Thanks for the visit and the very nice comment! Hugs, Finn
P.S. Left you one down by your first post also *VBS*

QuiltedSimple said...

I think your quilts are gorgeous - it is so nice to have pieces of the past in your quilts, that you can "see" the person that the fabric came from - they will be a wonderful heritage for your family for years to come. They are all beautiful, and well loved by the recipient, and isn't that the most important part - the made with love? Your granddaughter will cherish her quilt for her child one day - which isn't a gift that can be brought in the store!!
Kris

Knot Garden said...

I think the fact that your granddaughter still loves her quilt says it all. What lovely family memories you have stitched into it.
It's so nice that your grandchildren take an interest in crafts. They are lucky to have you to encourage them.
Thanks for visiting my blog and for your lovely comment:)
Caroline