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A Personal Quilt History |
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Quilts are universal yet personal. My first memories of quilts are of the ones my grandmother made. I remember that they were warm and soft, and had pretty designs or pictures. My favorite one was Sunbonnet Sue. Each block had a little girl with a different color dress and bonnet. Flowers were embroidered on the bonnet, and little running stitches held the pieces in place. I used that quilt so much that it got frayed, and some of the colors faded from so much washing over the years. |
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When I was old enough to understand, my mother told me about her mother, and the quilts she made. My grandfather was a Baptist preacher in Arkansas, and my grandmother made a lot of quilts with the ladies of the church. This particular one had slightly different stitching on each blocks, because they were made by various people. Most of our quilts were "community projects". My mother remembered playing under the quilts when she was little, while the ladies quilted. Even though she was around them a lot, she never took up quilting herself, which seemed odd to me. She did teach me my first stitches and some embroidery, and she gave me the quilts when I was grown up and had my own home. |
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I started sewing when I was 9 years old. I really liked hand sewing, and I embroidered pillowcases and tea towels for practice. I studied the pretty flowers on my Sunbonnet Sue quilt, and I loved the beautiful colors of the flowers on the bonnets. When I was 11, I learned how to sew on my mother's treadle sewing machine. I started making my own clothes when I was 12. |
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When we adopted our first daughter, I started making quilt blocks. The first ones I made were Sunbonnet Sue, and I tried to make mine as much like my grandmother's as I could. I have always especially enjoyed applique and embroidery, for the beautiful choices of fabric and thread, and the shapes that aren't possible with piecing. The first actual quilts I made were from this same pattern. I made 2 crib quilts for a friend of mine whose daughter had just had twin girls. |
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I'm happy to have this tradition to pass on. My daughters never learned to sew, but I have another chance, with my granddaughter. She's only 3 years old so all I can do right now is to make sure she has quilts in her life, and when she is old enough I'll teach her how to make her own. |
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