Grandmother's quilts

[Bamabww]

From an earlier time, they think these are probably 60 to 70 years old. My wife found these in an old cabinet we've been cleaning out at her late dad's homeplace. One is particularly interesting because of the material used. They are all handsewn (sp?). We have washed them and hung them up in the shed to air out and dry.

[iddee]

Beautiful beyond words. A treasure to hold forever. Thanks for posting.

[kebee]

 I still have a few, 4 to be exact of quilts my mother and 1 from my grand mother made, we don't used them anymore, we hung them up to remember them by on quilt racks in the house. Those look real good, you may want to save some your self to remember them by.

Ken

[Jen]

Bama- quilts made by hand are treasures. Every one of these is beautiful and full of history. Also, quilts are meant to be used and loved. Don't be afraid of them, they are works of art that beg to comfort you 

[riverbee]

wow those are neat wayne!  thanks for sharing the pix! 

my great grandmother did quilts, and beadwork. my mom has done some quilts, and my sister still does.

[lazy shooter]

I agree with Jen.  The lovely old lady that quilted those quilts from a quilt rank in her spare time wanted them to comfort her loved ones.  I buy quilts, old and new, and love them.  I buy quilts at church auctions and such that are from one of the locals that I know.  There's so much hand work in a quilt that you are buying a slice of that persons life.  Enjoy!

[lazy shooter]

My mom kept my old jeans and my oldest son's jeans until she had enough to make a quilt.  Those quilts must weigh 20 pounds each, but they will keep you warm.  I never look at that quilt that I don't see mom patiently cutting jeans into quilt size patches and neatly setting them into a sewing basket.

[iddee]

During the 1970's, We kept teenage foster kids. We got them for 30 to 60 days, until a permanent home could be found. Boy or girl did not matter, I would teach them to cut and sew a quilt top. Then the whole family would sit around the quilting frame and hand quilt it. Finally, I would sew a border around it on a commercial machine. It was the one thing the kid would own that he/she made themselves and could take any where they may wind up going. I received a lot of good feed back from some of the future foster parents about those quilts.

[Jen]

Awe Geez Iddee, that just... well... Very Special! ~hugs~

Lazy, I buy old quilts when I can find them. I love the ones that have been washed a few times or more. They are so soft, and a little tattered.

[kingd]

I have a few that my great grandmother made and my daughter has one of them that she uses everyday (she is 18 now).
I did not want use them for fear of wearing them out but my grandmother told me that is what they were made for.

  100 plus years of use and they are getting a little tired but they have a feel that can not be duplicated. I am surprised how well they have held up though.

[LogicalBee]

I've got two on my bed right now that my 99 year old relatives made.  Use them every night.   

Beautiful quilts and good memories.

[Retroguy]

My mother always claimed that quilts couldn't be washed (at least the way her family made them?).  She said the (cotton) batting would bunch up and you'd end up with this lumpy thing that had no insulating value in one spot and a bunched up batting that would get compacted and wouldn't keep you warm where the lumps were either.

Maybe, as I alluded to in the first paragraph, this had to do with the way her people made them.  They sewed what we called "quilt covers" which would have the patchwork on top and a full piece on the bottom.  They'd put the bottom piece on the clean floor, lay on the cotton bat, then hand sew the edges together.  Then every 8 or so inches, they'd take a piece of yarn about 3" long and run it through and back up through the bottom and top covers and tie a granny knot in the yarn.  There was no stitching through the quilt except around the outer edge and these yarn knots held the bottom cover, the batting and the patchwork top in place.  I suspect a lot of quilts in other families got more substantial stitching throughout the quilt.

To keep them clean, you ALWAYS slept with the top sheet folded back over the quilt and the bedspread covered the quilt and the sheet so you only drooled on the bedspread and the pillow case at night.  Of course with a bedspread layed over everything, this sort of defeated the idea of showing off the quilt pattern since it was hidden all the time.  Then again, you never, NEVER, EVER entertained friends or relations in your bedroom.  That section was basically off limits except for piling coats, caps and hats on when company came over.  So once in use, the quilts were never to be seen again.  Come warm weather, the quilts got packed away in a cedar closet or cedar lined chest.

I have a couple of quilts made by my mother and grandmother and Grandma's sisters.  One's a "Friendship Quilt" where the neighborhood women got together and signed their names each on an individual patch.  It was made up around 1919 or 20 when my Mom's family left Southwestern Minnesota to move up north of Minneapolis.

[iddee]

That is called "tacking" a quilt.
Hand sewing stitches is called quilting a quilt.
My mother made both. Quilted can be machine washed, tacked cannot.

[Jen]

Fun thread about quilting. Unfortunately, I wasn't a recipient of a passed down family quilt. But I have enjoyed making quilts, especially baby quilts.

Tacking was a way to get a quilt together fast if you needed a quilt in a hurry. A quilter could get a quilt made in a day. I have done tacking with both yard or ribbon or heavy duty thread. I don't prefer yarn because the yarn ties get all balled up and rough looking. I use very thin 1/8 ribbon or heavy duty thread.

There is a quilt in my father-in-laws attic that was made by my mother-in-laws mother. It's a bonnet girl quilt. It's very tattered and has pet hair on it, has been poorly mended along the way. I would love to restore it.

[Riverrat]

Them pics bring back good memories of a quilt I had from my grandmother she had hand sewn.  I got it in high school and wore it out over the years from use.  Looking back what I wouldn't give to have put it up and hung on to it.

[Papakeith]

beautiful quilts.  I see a few patterns that I am familiar with.

My mother is a quilter and gifted my wife and me one on our wedding day. 
A few years ago she asked if we knew where the quilt was and if we did could she could borrow it for a display at a quilt show?
She assumed that we had just packed it away like happens to many other wedding gifts. 
Nope!   It was on our bed.  Just as it had been since the day she gave it to us.  She had to patch it before showing it  
She was thrilled that we actually used it instead of just saving it.

I hope you get years of warmth out of these.

[Bakersdozen]

My mother always claimed that quilts couldn't be washed (at least the way her family made them?). 

I had a boss, at one time, that did quilting.  She said you should always wash a quilt by hand.  There is a special soap that you can by at a fabric shop or quilting shop to do that with.  It is probably similar to soap you would use to launder baby items.  I put my quilts in the bath tub with tepid water and the special soap I mentioned before.  I then dry them where I can lie them out flat or some place where there are no creases.  To fold a special quilt, well, you should never fold it.  You should roll them up so that there are no creases.  Creases will cause threads to break over time.

[Jen]

Thanks Baker! That's great advice for cleaning quilts. I just don't think I can lift a wet quilt out of the bathtub.. how do you do that?

[kebee]

 Take a rolling pin that you us to flat out doe with and roll all the water out of the quilt you can and the lift it to hang and dry.

Ken

[Bakersdozen]

Thanks Baker! That's great advice for cleaning quilts. I just don't think I can lift a wet quilt out of the bathtub.. how do you do that?

That might be something two people do together.  I have also taken them and laid them out in the sun to dry flat.

I forgot to say, those are beautiful quilts.  I especially like the blue one with all the vibrant colors.

[Jen]

That was my thought as well Baker ~ two man job

My favorites are the faded flour sack quilts. Flour sack quilts are sooo soft