Old quilts. Very Southern and I apologize to our Northern Brethren.

[CoronaDan]

I never thought there'd be a quilt thread on this board! But reading all your comments brings a very broad smile.

My mom, now 90, continues to quilt to this day. She has made wonderful heirlooms for each of her grand kids and all of my siblings have multiple examples of her work. The woman is an artist.

She has made quilts as blankets and wall hangings, for cuddling on cold winter evenings, as theme hangings for her church, for exhibits, etc.

I had the most wonderful time with her a year ago, spending several hours talking with her about how and why she chooses fabric scraps, design elements and how she pulls it all together. What she does is equal measures of inspiration, art and function.

I was humbled and even more appreciative of the quilts she has made for our family, her thoughtful and artistic approach and the sheer love that she put I to these pieces.

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread!

 

[gdnagle]

Have several stored away here. The wife doesn't want them messed up and we only use them when it gets really cold. Some really nice looking quilts come out of Amish country I've seen in Lancaster. Never thought about photographing then but that's a good idea.

 

[3dots]

This thread really brought back a very bad memory. When we moved into our new home 13 years ago, as with every move, it was total chaos. My wife had taken two of the quilts that her grandmother had made and put them in a black trash bag. With the mounds of trash and thinning out, I grabbed the bag and put it on the curb. My wife cried for a week over it, I felt horrible and still do...

 

[Salty RI]

There isn't a day that goes by that my wife isn't working on a quilt, she goes to quilt shows all over the country, I tell her don't hurry back on my account.

 

[pawngal]

Southern/Northern, I would have thought quilting to be more of a northern thing myself. Sadly neither my mother nor grandmother did any quilting. Grandma did a lot of crocheting, doilies, chair tidies, tablecloths and such.
I have made of couple of quilts myself but not the real hand stitched kind and have have bought countless ones on auctions. Nothing like a soft well-worn quilt to snuggle under on a cold northern night.

 

[Brian41]

My wife inherited several from her grandmother and mother. One has squares signed by family members from long ago that we had to research. They are from Arkansas where her family is from.
We bought a quilt rack to store them on and will use one on our bed in cold Michigan winters. The spare guest room where the quilts are is furnished with old antiques and goes well.
My family is from Canada and they made them too but unfortunately I have none of them.

 

[MOONDAWG]

Lots of good posts thus far.

I can only add that I too miss them and the good times with family they represented.

 

[Straightshooter2]

My grandparents, before they moved in closer to town, lived in a large framed house out in the country in the late 1950's. This was one of those houses that were heated mostly by fireplace and the bedrooms could get quite cold during the night. I remember spending nights with them and having something like three quilts on the bed with the total weight being so much you just about had to get out of bed to turn over. But once you got warm under them, you stayed warm.

CW

 

[walter o]

To appreciate a fine hand stitched quilt compare the stitching to a set of hand checkered grips . Both are a thing of beauty.

 

[ditrina]

In before Sip..

The only thing my Grandmother made was Lasagna!!

( Man those quilts are beautiful tho..)

 

[OLDNAVYMCPO]

When my wife passed away, I was left with a dozen or so quilts made by her mother, grandmother and great grandmother. The oldest probably more than a hundred years old. At first I intended to donate them to the Farm and Ranch Museum in Las Cruces, NM. Even visited the museum and saw their extensive collection and the degree to which they preserved and cared for their collection. Eventually, however, I decided to pass them on to her daughter, to stay in the family. That was not met with the enthusiasm I expected, I only hope I made the right choice. I would hate for such historic items to be lost.

 

[Bekeart]

Still LOT of quilters. HUGE Quilt Show in Paducah KY each spring.

"More than 30,000 quilters attended the 25th Anniversary AQS Quilt Show, April 22 – 25 2014." "Quilters attended from 47 states and 11 countries."


Bekeart

 

[Road Rat]

Talk about going back in time!!

My Mother always had the hooks in the ceiling of the living room(s).

All the ladies would gather round; pull up chairs; and spend days putting quilts together and sewing them up.

I have moved so many times over the decades I have no idea what happened to them. Hopefully my siblings got some of them.

 

[Salty RI]

This thread really brought back a very bad memory. When we moved into our new home 13 years ago, as with every move, it was total chaos. My wife had taken two of the quilts that her grandmother had made and put them in a black trash bag. With the mounds of trash and thinning out, I grabbed the bag and put it on the curb. My wife cried for a week over it, I felt horrible and still do...

I'm sure you will be on her list forever.

 

[the ringo kid]

When my wife passed away, I was left with a dozen or so quilts made by her mother, grandmother and great grandmother. The oldest probably more than a hundred years old. At first I intended to donate them to the Farm and Ranch Museum in Las Cruces, NM. Even visited the museum and saw their extensive collection and the degree to which they preserved and cared for their collection. Eventually, however, I decided to pass them on to her daughter, to stay in the family. That was not met with the enthusiasm I expected, I only hope I made the right choice. I would hate for such historic items to be lost.

Good choice in leaving them to your oldest because--Museums traditionally just put donated stuff in lockers in a back room to never see the light of day. Then--usualy sent to some other museum-sold-or traded off. I saw that when I donated about 2 years--daily time going through the collections for the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History. Stuff that SHOULD be displayed--is gathering rust and dust in the back storage rooms.They have one heck of a firearms, bayonets, swords and such collection-but never display anything.

Also, and I know your decision is not based on collectability but--those quilts would be valued in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

One strange thing happened to me--was its ell kown I collet WWI and WWII Militaria. The USS Lexington Museum asked for me to donate my collections of things. I coul never figure out why they would want Imperial and WWII GERMAN--stuff displayed on that ship? since it has zilch to do with where that shipserved. Sadly, I declined their offer and that was a major reason why.

 

[the ringo kid]

Talk about going back in time!!

My Mother always had the hooks in the ceiling of the living room(s).

All the ladies would gather round; pull up chairs; and spend days putting quilts together and sewing them up.

I have moved so many times over the decades I have no idea what happened to them. Hopefully my siblings got some of them.

I stupidly allowed a neighbor borrow mine--which my grandmother made when I was born. The neighbor was to use it to show some furniture off at her house--and someone pinched it on their way out. I rarely and touched it--but it was my grandmothers-and I cherished it since I have nothing else of hers (older brother took it all)

 

[just jim]

My family is from the south and quilting is a heritage passed down through some southern families. My mom had 7 kids and each one of us had our own quilt made by all the women in the family. I take good care of mine, nobody is going to make me another one with as much love as the one I have.

 

[Maddog 521]

I got two old quilts when my Mother passed.
Now we do quilt trivia -
How many of you folks ever saw those hooks in the ceiling of an old farmhouse?
I mean the ones that were used to hang the quilting frames.

I remember those hooks right along with the frames for curtain stretchers.

 

[mtgianni]

Many small towns in Montana have quilting shops. My wife has been a quilter for longer than I have known her. I would guess that of her Church and work friends over 50% have frames.

 

[kozmic]

When my wife found out she was pregnant her maternal instincts kicked in. She started making quilts like a crazy woman. She made a half dozen for the boys and the house. They're all beautiful.