Thursday, March 5, 2009

Treasures from the past

Just in case you were worried, I wanted to let you know that I haven't stopped making temari. This one (a c8) was the first step in a SAL (Stitch-along). Now we are going to attempt to stitch the "same" pattern on a c10.

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I mentioned yesterday I have been thinking of my grandma. When I was in college I asked her if she could make me a quilt. She agreed, and I picked out a pattern, and sent it to her with a pile of fabric, thinking that would be all there was to the project. Little did I know! The project became a real learning experience for me and a wonderful bonding experience for us. After the blocks were made, she asked me how I wanted them set? Well, first I had to figure out what she meant, and then figure out how I wanted them set, and then let her know. Then we had to decide on the quilting pattern, and then she invited me to come and quilt with her. I was a senior in college, and hadn't been to see her in quite a while, but I jumped at the chance to spend spring break in Iowa quilting with my grandma.

We had a wonderful time! We spent most of every day quilting and talking, talking and quilting.

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The quilt was 1/2 done by the end of my time off, and she finished alone and sent it back to me (I lived in Michigan at the time). It was in the 70s, and so had to be earth-tone colors, but even though it would coordinate with harvest gold and avocado green I did manage to avoid those colors.

During those days of quilting I got to know my grandma as a person and learned things about her life that she didn't share with too many others. I treasure the memory of that time together.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful gift your grandmother gave you! So much more than "just" a quilt. Lovely memory!

Moonsilk Stitches said...

That is so cool! thanks for sharing that story.