This Old Quilt

In sorting through my Mom's things, I came across this old quilt.  It was folded and shoved into the very back of a built-in drawer beneath her closet.

 It's clearly been well-used and appears to be a simple, utilitarian quilt.  It has no bindings and was put together using the pillow-case method of sandwiching.

 The batting appears to be a plain, white flannel blanket.  It was tied, not quilted with stitching.

 While it seems 'familiar', I have no true recollection of it from childhood. 

 The only piecework was from the maker taking lengths of yardage and precisely, and I mean precisely, matching the printed squares of the yardage, and adding the border.

The backing is yardage pieced to fit.  With Mom gone, I know nothing of this quilt, having not even known of it's existence.  It may have been made by her mom, as Grandma had made quilts for all of us grandkids (and maybe her own kids) back in the 1970s, but those were from feedsacks and were pieced blocks where this one is not, so its origins remain a mystery.  My paternal grandmother also did some quilting, so it may have come from her, but we'll never know.  In those days, labeling utilitarian quilts wasn't common.  For some reason though, Mom saved this one even in the poor condition it's in.  There are quilts in photos, but not of this one, and I remember a Grandmother's Flower Garden, but it was not saved anywhere. 

Needle and Thread

I didn't get to any quilty projects yet today but I did have breakfast with my quilty friend Panda, and then went back to her house and we chatted up a storm amidst times of both laughter and tears as she continues grieving over her husband who passed last October, and I over the loss of my Mom.  It was after 2:00 by the time I got home and then I had just enough time to grab a lunch bite before heading to the school to pick Nick up.

When I was away during that first week of February, I had taken my machine, the table and a couple of projects with me but none of it was ever set up and worked on.  It was obvious that I couldn't set up my quilting station in ICU, and I didn't have the mental energy when I'd get back to the house at night, so I had to find a different mechanism to keep myself occupied while at the hospital.  

The perfect project, so I thought, would be an embroidery project, but with limited time and funds, I didn't shop around and so spent a few free hours one Saturday to go with my aunt to one of my favorite quilt shops up there.  They didn't have any pre-kitted embroidery projects, but did have some quilt projects with the designs on them, so I chose one with flowers and butterflies. I had to pick up all the DMC threads, needles, hoop and a way to store them, ultimately spending a little more than I'd have liked. 

 Well, as you can see, I didn't make a lot of progress on my embroidery either. This is the extent of what I was able to get done.

But, I think I'll work on it while I'm watching The Voice this evening.  It's really a simple project as there are only two stitches involved, a satin stitch, and a back-stitch.  There are six blocks, all the same, and they measure 18" square, so should I ever, and hopefully I will, finish them, they will become a quilt.

During the week in between my northern trips, I found the embroidery project I'd have preferred to have had with me as I had everything I needed in one bag, and I've been working on it for a number of years.  I'll post about it at another time, but it seems I may have done so on my D.O.O.W. blog over a year ago.

Groovin'

Today, after sweeping the floors in the Sanctuary - you wouldn't believe how much dust and cat hair has collected in my absence - and cleaning off the sewing table that subs as my desk, I set up my portable sewing table and my machine.  She's ready for action as soon as I remember what I was working on.  It feels good to have some normalcy returning.

Design Wall Monday

Oh my stars!  Having been gone for the better part of three months, I forgot that Monday's are for reporting in for Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times. 

I can only show what was still hanging from my design wall when I left on 2/2 as I've not yet had my machine in a usable state...perhaps today though, it will come out and play.  

I have parts of three projects on my design wall: 1) 7 blocks from the Sisters Choice project (no photo), 2) one block from Twisted Sisters which needs to be fixed and figured out as to what I'm doing wrong for it to not be lining up correctly, and 3) some itty bitty 9-patch blocks that I have to revisit to find out what I was thinking with them, I believe I may have been doing them as leaders and enders. 

L=problematic Twisted Sisters block, R=Mini-9-Patch blocks

Please bear with me while I pick up speed and get back into the groove of things :)

Stash Report - No.17 - 2014

My last Stash Report was from Week 4 of this year.  I'm very slowly getting back to some of my normal activities since returning home.  I fear I'll just get back into those routines and it'll be time to head off again.  

I've had no changes in either direction, and since it's my first quilt-related post since February 7th, I'll post the same detail from week 4.  Getting back into the swing of things starts with 'just doing'.  Next, I need to get my sewing machine set up again.

Used This Week: 0 yards 
Used Year to Date: 0 yards  
Added This Week: 0 yards  
Added Year to Date: 0 yards  
Net Used for 2014: .15 yards

Linking up at Patchwork Times.