Well, sadly, if you’re following the links to Amy’s quilt show, it means you’re one of us deprived kidlets who isn’t at quilt market this week. Leave it up to creative bloggers to keep us all entertained as we wait for reports from those who were able to attend (Thanks Amy!)
We’ve had two or three days of gloom and rain here in the heartland, and when you combine that with the fact that I don’t get home until after 6:00 p.m., most evenings, you have a recipe for poor lighting. Please excuse the sad, gray quality of my quilt pictures! My entry in the quilt show is my favorite quilt that MeMum has made for me.
It’s a Dresden Plate and each “plate” has been made from fabric scraps from clothing that either MeMum or I made for MyDadLovesMeBestSister and me. So, as you can guess, it’s very sentimental. MeMum made this quilt in the late 70’s/early 80’s when there were hardly any quilt shops around and it’s all beautifully hand quilted. She’s always hated the sashing on this quilt because it’s not 100% cotton — it’s a blend. I love it though — it’s a reminder of how hard it was to find good quilting fabrics 30 years ago.
Probably more than you care to know about a few of the plates:
And, once again, a kitty approved quilt. I laid this quilt out on the bed just to take one simple picture and before I could even get it straightened out, TheEmptyNestChild was up there in a flash. Bad Kitty! We don’t allow our kitties on the hand quilted quilts in this house!!!
If you click on the quilt show button at the beginning of this post, it will take you to Amy’s blog where you’ll find a huge list of quilters participating in the quilt show. Thanks again for hosting Amy!
Happy Quilt Surfing!
XOXO,
Anna
I LOVE the walk down your memory lane…we have a quilt like this in my family, but regrettably its my first quilt, and not fit for inspection!! What a great quilt you have here!
Wow, this quilt is stunning!
I love how this quilt was made from fabric from other projects. What a wonderful and memorable keepsake!
Did you have three arms when you were a little girl? LOL! Just kidding. But I did have to think about that for a minute.
Anna this quilt is amazing for so many different reasons. I have kept a lot of the girls’ clothing over the years so that someday I (or my mom who rocks at quilting) might make something this meaningful. Thanks for sharing.
XOXO-
Cassie
Not only do I love how your quilt looks (love modern look of the plates)… but that it’s from such special scraps. LOVE how you’ve pointed them out.
Oh this quilt is going to garner you plenty of free time off the schedule. I’ll miss you at the party. Sniff. Next time, k!
What a great quilt! At first glance, those circles look like those twirly red and white peppermint candies! I also thought it would be a neat project to make a quilt from fabric I used for clothes for my girls….It still might happen…..someday!
I loved the trip into your younger years and the quilt is beautiful! :)
I love the quilt – and the stories behind the fabrics! I am just picturing you in your butterfly culottes hehe.
I love your quilt and the stories it tells! My mother made most of my sister and my clothing too, but sad to say I don’t think anyone thought to save the scraps for a quilt. What a treasure you have! (And I love the extra info on the fabrics!)
What a great memory quilt! It was so smart of your family to keep the clothing to reuse in such a beautiful way.
I’m getting all misty eyed. I love the quilt and the fabrics and stories about what you had made out of them so nice. MeMum is just wonderful.xoxo
Thanks for the wonderful story about your quilt. I just loved seeing all of the prints close up. What a great way to keep all of those memories stitched up safe in a quilt.
Love those quilts with our old dresses in them–what a treasure!
What a brilliant quilt and a wonderful use of such special “scraps”. Thanks for sharing the stories behind the outfits – wish you would show us the picture of you at the skate night:)
I love your quilt…and I think it’s wonderful that you remember so much about the fabrics! What a wonderful post!
I love this quilt and the story behind it is lovely, words like wraparound and culottes, lol. It’s a fabulous quilt for it’s time, considering the lack of fabrics around for quilting. This is what quilting used to be about.
Wow – what a fantastic quilt! I love the fact that it has some memories – and that you still remember what everything was! My favourite is definitely the pink roses and I don’t even like pink!
Oh I loved reading about the origins of all the different fabrics. This is such a special kind of memory quilt – it’s a treasure!
A stunning quilt with special memories! Thanks for sharing all the stories behind the fabrics.
Thank you for showing and telling about this stunning memory quilt. Great work.
Anna that is the most wonderful treasure…thank you for sharing it with us and all the memories. That is one of those…If you had to leave your house because of some sort of emergency, what would you take…important papers and that quilt. It’s amazing.
What a beautiful way to bring back memories- love them all!! I agree with you about culottes. Put those on the “What was I thinking?” list. Although at the time I thought they were super cool. ;) I wish that I had a sewing mom. Everything we had was store-bought when we were younger and I always wanted to have the pretty things that my friends’ moms made for them. You are a very lucky girl.
Anna, it is wonderful! Your mother is so incredibly talented. I had one of those dress – with the 3 armholes. I remember thinking that was just the coolest thing.
What a gorgeous quilt Anna! Jampacked full of wonderful memories and love! Lucy x
Isn’t it funny how fabrics can spark such memories? When I got my first “grown-up” job I invested most of one paycheck in a beautiful (to me) wild print fabric and brought it home and covered one of the walls in our bedroom with it. I can still see it today.
what a beautiful and sentimental quilt!!!
I love quilts with stories. This is absolutely lovely!
That was a fun trip down memory lane, Anna. What a special quilt, so full of wonderful memories! Oh and please post that picture of you dancing in the Mary had a Little Lamb print, I would love to see that!
Beautiful, just beautiful with so many memories. What a treasure.
Oh, I LOVE that MeMum saved all of the fabric of your clothes from your childhood. What a fun, fun quilt!! My favorites are the culottes fabric! However, I really do think you should be a good sport and post the picture of you dancing in that Mary/Sheep fabric!! LOL
What a COOL quilt! Simply Awesome. Wow. I WISH I had a quilt made with clothes from my childhood. I think about favorite’s often. Especially the change of seasons. Thanks for sharing !
That is seriously lovely but I like my Anna-quilt even better! And the catlets are certainly NOT allowed on it. (They sometimes forget, but not for long…)
Nearly a year since you were here! You should plan to come back in the summer. Princes Street is due to stop being dug up any week now…
Interesting pattern and a great way to show off all those great fabric that evoke so many wonderful memories. Now I would like to see that picture of you in the “sheepies” red and tan outfit.
Hullo Anna!!!! I had to stop by and see what was happening in your world. I’m so glad I did! What a lovely, lovely quilt. A true keepsake, full of childhood memories. I enjoyed reading about many of the ‘plates’ – thank you so much for sharing. I have a huge smile on my face now.
How do you keep all those memories in that brain – it’s astonishing! It seems you’ve lived a wonderful life…all those wonderful art-inspired memories. A real fashion queen I might add too.
take care, always, Robin
Your Ma´s quilt isreally lovely.
I like the photo with your cat, laying on it
That is such a beautiful quilt, and even more so with the memories involved. Thanks for sharing.
This quilt is amazing! Your Mum is fabulous. Thank you for explaining the fabrics, I love that we both had homemade culottes, did you have a gunny sack dress too? Those were the days.. We better get started sewing for our 800 children. x
I love this! I would absolutely love to do something like this for my boys. What a lucky girl you are- to have such a special quilt. Way to go Mum!
OMG Anna I had forgotten all about wrap arounds!! Oh and jumpsuits, my first ever sewing project was a brown shorts jumpsuit made of brown Hawaiian fabric when I was in 8th grade…never got finished lol. Oh and culottes omg what a walk down fashion memory lane. I love the dresden plate quilt memom made for you :)
This is an amazing quilt especially because there were so many culottes and matching tops made from the fabrics. MeMum rocks!
Jody
HI Anna,
What a fabulous quilt and your mom did absolutely stunning hand quilting in the border. I suppose when I thought about it, I would have remembered that you came from a line of quilters. I am a first generation quilter though my dad’s mother made quilts. I also expect one of my great grandmothers would have quilted but,unfortunately, none of their work remains. You do lovely hand work and hand quilting – how nice that your mom was able to help you learn to quilt.
I hadn’t seen this variation of Dresden plate- the ones that I have seen before all have either points or curved flower points. It is amazing how much the quilting industry has grown in the last 30+ years. The fabric choices and tools have increased exponentially during this time- it is mind boggling to think about. I love my rotary cutter and mat – it has made cutting so much easier, and for me, more accurate.
Your quilt story is lovely- what a treasure to own and look at and remember all the clothes that were made from those fabrics.
Enjoy the show- there are so many fantastic quilts to view and stories to read- I have been reading but need to other things too..
Kevin got my computer fixed so I am a happy girl – I lost my address book and pictures again but the rest is all good. There are lots of worse things to have to deal with in this world than a malfunctioning computer.
Have a nice Columbus Day.
I am enjoying a lovely quiet Thanksgiving day- I had turkey with friends on Saturday- Bruce is away in Victoria visiting his mother so we will have to have turkey when he returns.
Enjoy the show.
Warmest regards,
Anna
Beautiful quilt, especially with the history behind it. My mother gave me some vintage 70s “calico” that is also a cotton/poly blend. I wish it was all cotton!
Fabulous, fabulous quilt – I LOVE the history behind this, happy times!
However, I have to disagree with you, culottes – bring ’em back!
I had a lovely pair in white, eek – that I wore with my lavender/gingham& white/seersucker handerkerchief top – I thought I was hot!
Thanks for sharing your great stories, and this beautiful quilt!
Anna, Neat quilt! It looks like you had some fabulous clothes, too :)
Karen
I only hope to make such a wonderful quilt (or quilts) for my little ones. The design on yours reminds of peppermint candies. Such a joy!
I love that you shared what each fabric came from. I found myself searching each photo, hoping to see a fabric that I had used, since I made so many of my own clothes when I was in high school in the early 70’s.
Thank you for sharing !
beautiful, beautiful quilt!
How fabulous to have so many memories held together in that quilt! It is a beautiful quilt too. You guys obviously had great taste in fabric when you were little because all those prints from your clothes are lovely.
What a fab quilt full of memories! love it!
Love the quilt and the stories about the fabric!
Weren’t those one-piece jumpsuits the best when we were young! I also wore them–remembering a beautiful lime-green one with sleeves!
What a lovely trip down memory lane Anna :)
The quilt is beautiful and so much more special with all those lovely memories stitched into it.
xxx
how I love to find clothing scraps in quilts, perfect as memory keepers,I love the quilting and those colours, thanks for sharing!
What a beautiful quilt and such an incredible heirloom treasure. I love the story of the plates and all the fabric that went into it.
oh wow! what a wonderful memory quilt! I love it!
Beautiful!! and What a great treasure. My mother made all my clothes when I was growing up…How I wish I had a quilt made from all the garments that she made me.
I love the story with your quilt. it is certainly a beautiful one. i love the pattern idea. Thanks for sharing
wow! how cool! a great quilt with such memories!
What a great quilt. So wonderful that each dresden plate is made with fabric from your clothes you or your mom made. Too cool. Thanks for sharing.
Your quilt is what a quilt should be. Memories. How lucky you are!!! It is lovely!
Thimbleanna…I think I can remember that because I want to come back and visit some more.
Things of yesterday so sweetly preserved…that quilt is a feast visually even if it were all new cloth…but the capturing of hopscotch in the sun and learning to sew and family love is delightful in the beyond. Thank you…Thimbleanna…and what a lucky little study partner you have…even if he will grow up and have to go to therapy to figure out why he has such positive associations with monsters and green icing.
Very beautiful quilt !!
Marika
that is a sweet quilt and story Anna! I love that you don’t care about the poly blend fabric and that it brings back sweet memories for you! It reminded me of the polyish fabric you sent to me in the scraps to treasure swap that has the mice on it. I love that fabric!!! I used it several times in my quilt (did you see them little mice a running around??) and I don’t care either!! I’ll think of you everytime I see them!
Penny
If this was a prize winning show you’d win first place. First off I love the “wheels”. They are so cute. And the fact that they are from your clothes – ooooh how I wish I had a quilt with all the fabrics from the clothes my mom made me! I would almost relive my life if I could save them. This is so sweet. So like a post card from your life. A real treasure.
i love that every little piece of this has a story!!! thank you for sharing. to me that is the magic of quilts…the story they tell and the comfort they give.
Oh my how beautiful. Well now I know were you get your love of quilting from xoxoxo Clarice
Oh, I’m so glad you didn’t let those beautiful fabrics go to waste. What a wonderful gift! I love it!!!
this a great quilt, I love how you remember the fabrics used, such an interesting story.
Kristina
What a treasure! Love all the bits of history in there – makes me wish I had kept more of my early creations too. Thanks for sharing :)
I LOVE this quilt and how many memories it holds for you! Thanks for sharing!
I love the story of your quilt. It is AWESOME!
What a gorgeous quilt and what happy memories it brings to you. Thanks for sharing.
What a sweet and wonderful quilt! It must be so fun to just sit and look at it. I hope I can do something like this for my kids.
What memories wrapped up in such a beautiful quilt! These are the quilts I love the best of all!!!!!
WOW!!! I LOVE your quilt!!! It is BEAUTIFUL!!! The fabrics and colors are vibrant and FUN. Then there’s the story and memories that go with it!!! Oh my?! This is indeed a treasure. What a lovely gift you have there. Thanks for sharing and inspiring!!! Enjoy your Holiday Season. ; )
Oh Anna – I am in love with the quilt. I was absolutely enthralled as I read your “side” notes on what each Dresden Plate was made up from. I can only hope that some day I will produce something with this much memory inducing power. Thanks for the link to it. Carolina