Our family only had the one quilt that I can remember.
It was a crazy quilt and it was glorious. There was wool, and satin, and silk, and velvet and lace. The embroidery stitches were exquisite and I spent what seemed like gazillion hours looking at them. It is possible that the quilt was made in the early 1900’s as it fit the era and the style of the quilt. The binding was a bit frayed in places.
It was really warm and nice to cuddle under back in those days. With just a wood stove in the kitchen and a coal burning furnace for heat, any warmth was cherished during those very long cold winter nights.
When I would awaken during the night, I would run my fingers around and around the top, feeling the different fabrics and embroidery stitches. It was beautiful to me.
Hurricane Hazel destroyed that quilt on October 15, 1954. I was only 3 years old at the time. When the tail-end of the storm blew into Ontario and roared north to North Bay, our home was flooded out as we were living in a low-lying area and were not far from a creek. Our basement filled with sewer water and ruined everything stored in it.
Days (or weeks) later, Mom was showing a lady the basement and explaining that all the trunks had to go (
my quilt was in one of those trunks) and I remember asking Mom, “What about the quilt, can we just wash it?” Unfortunately, we could not and that beautiful crazy quilt was no more.
Years later, I asked Mom who made that quilt. She did not know. Mom could never find a signature, or initials, nothing to identify who made it. No one on Mom’s side of the family ever made quilts, so it must have come from a relative on Dad’s side.
Today, when I make a quilt, my name and date is on a label and sewn onto the quilt. I want my descendents to know who made their quilt.
I wish I had that crazy quilt today. I wish …..
Here is a peek of the flowers that are blooming on my favourite place to walk. Doesn’t that sky seem to go on forever?
Work is ongoing with my memory crazy quilt and it’s almost ready for borders. Those will be put on when I return home. This quilt is entirely made from stash. Some of the sashing strips were pieced as there was not enough fabric to make whole ones and I didn’t want to buy more fabric. All that is left of that fabric now is just bits. Yeah! :o)
I am up north and this is what I’m working on while visiting my Mom. I hope to have all of this finished by the time I return to Toronto (will be away for a few weeks).
Decisions, decisions …. oh dear, I had a hard time deciding what design should be made for the Four Seasons Swap. Will my partner like it? Panic, panic, panic!
Time has come to empty my scrap bin and it was a surprise to see how much was in there! Many days were spent sorting through this mess so that they can be stored here in my bins (see my post of Apr. 9)
These are what has been made so far. I’ll start making just a lap quilt and decide if it should be made larger or not. As well as quilts for our beds, I really do like to change my dining room quilts around a lot, so we’ll see how far this one goes.
Lately, it has been way toooo hot and humid to do much hand quilting and although this quilt beckons me, it will have to wait for cooler days before I can really put a dent into the quilting. The nights are starting to cool down, so perhaps soon.
After being at home for a few days (and after all the wedding fuss), I was in dire need of a quilt fix and what better way than making a tote bag. Have you seen all the bags on the web lately? Aren’t they just awesome!
At some point in time, I just had to include a photo of the bride … and this is not the usual pose that you would expect (at least not from me). :o)
Here is the sister who had the honour of wearing the socks that I made for her sock dance. In my post of June 28, I mislead you. It is only the unmarried older siblings who must perform the dance. How is that for being singled out! Yikes!
This carving was done by my oldest brother and presented to the bride and groom as their wedding gift. He is quite the talented individual and has asked the couple if he can borrow the carving for a competition that he is keen to participate in. He spent a gazillion number of hours working on this duck.
Another handmade gift for the fortunate couple! My nephew made this rack using no nails or screws. Holding it together are pegs that are easy to remove and disassemble. Quite clever!
For the past few years, my labels have included care and wash instructions (it is never too late to start). 
Does anyone make pillow shams anymore?
Push your needle along the binding until you see the binding gathered up. Now, hold onto your needle (hmm, perhaps I should have had that manicure after all) and ease the yarn by grabbing the end of the quilt where you started and pull back gently so that the quilt is no longer gathered. Continue to the end of one side and slide your needle out, cut your yarn leaving a couple of inches. Do this on all four sides of your quilt.
I never know until the final stitch goes in how my quilt really turns out and I absolutely dread it when my quilt does not lay flat but does the wave. In this case, the wave went completely around the quilt and I could not leave it as is. Heck, I don’t want the couple getting sea-sick just looking at their gift! :o)