“I still remember sitting with her in her apartment…quilting while she told me her entire life history. I wish I had the sense to have had a tape recorder, but alas, I did not,”Susan Lazear says, as she relates her experience in a blog entry about restoring her grandmother’s quilt.
How many of us wish the same…that we’d recorded stories and memories of parents, grandparents and other relatives who are no longer here to tell us about our heritage?  Or we wish we’d at least jotted down some notes as they told stories.
These family stories are precious.  When we hear parents and …read more

I look at the old quilt I made with my grandmother more than 50 years ago and note some of the small repairs I must make so that the fabrics don’t deteriorate further.  For a quilt that’s well used, it’s in surprisingly good condition.  Those feed sack fabrics have endured the years well.
When you restore family quilts, you’re restoring memories, too.  I recall sitting at Nanny’s side when I was about eight-years old, selecting fabrics, cutting them, and then hand stitching the blocks together.  While we worked in the farmhouse kitchen, Auntie bustled around with housework and cooking.  Ah! What …read more

SHARING MEMORIES
Thank you, my readers and fellow quilt lovers, for sharing your memories and experiences with “blankies” and quilts your grandmothers or moms made you.  I hope you’re writing them down, taking pictures of the quilts if they still exist, and preserving these memories for future generations.
I’d like to share some of these with other readers, so from time to time will post your comments here since not so many people may see them in a comment.
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com

When I saw the picture of this rocking chair surrounded by patchwork border, I was reminded of my grandmother and quilting.  I learned to quilt with Nanny, who sat in her rocking chair beside the kitchen window. 
There she could look out beyond the porch and see what was going on at the barn.  She also saw anyone coming up the pathway, from driveway to the house.  In summer, she rocked on the porch where she got a greater view of goings on at the farm and around the yard.
Nanny stitched quilt patches in her lap, while I sat in a …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
(I often encourage quilters to write their quilting memories, in a journal, in a scrapbook, in a blog, in a quilt log.  Although I’ve written quilting memories, I’ve never set them down in any detail. If I start a journal here, I can share them with my readers, too.)
I was thrilled when I discovered my mother had saved the quilt that once covered my bed when I was a child and teenager.  I thought it was too worn to save and didn’t consider it worth taking with me when I married and left home.
However, when I had to clean the old farmhouse …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com

Whenever I’ve shared my memories of quilting with my grandmother and talked about my quilting heritage, other quilters have responded with their memories.  My most recent posts on this topic were :
A Tribute to My Grandmother for My Quilting Heritage.
A Tribute to Grandparents Who May Have Encouraged Your Quilting
One reader shared her memories.  This reflects the resourcefulness of her grandmother, too.  As I’ve mentioned, quilters of days ago recycled and reused old fabrics and clothing.  Nothing went to waste. 
I have wonderful memories of my Grandmother teaching me how to quilt. She made quilts from old clothes that no one could …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com

This week, the b5media Lifestyles Channel paid a tribute to grandparents, in recognition of Grandparents Day. 
The b5media Lifestyles Channel pays tribute to their own grandparents with memories, recipes and values handed down from generation to generation, said Channel Editor Gayla McCord.
Here at Quilting and Patchwork, I wrote a tribute to my grandmother for my quilting heritage and for introducing me to this art.
Over at One Book Two Book, where I also write, I reminisce about the reading heritage from my grandparents.
What memories, quilting and otherwise, do you have about your grandparents and the heritage they’ve given you.  Since I’m a …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
I’ve sometimes discussed memory book projects for Alzheimer’s patients at my Alzheimer’s Notes blog and how these help jog the person’s memory and give you both something to talk about.
Why not include quilting in these memory books if this ever played a part of your family member’s life?

Do you have photos of quilting/fabric art projects the patient may have made?
Do you have photos of a favorite quilt they used on their bed or as a decorative accent?
Is there a photo of a quilt they received as a gift?
Were they involved in quilting with someone…a friend, family member?  A photo of the …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com

In recognition of Grandparents Day, this Sunday, September 7, we’re writing tributes to our grandmothers and grandfathers.  When it comes to quilting, I have to credit my mom’s mother, my Nanny, for my initial interest in quiltmaking.
When I was about 8-years old, I helped Nanny stitch by hand, quilts for my sister, brothers and myself.  I sat beside her in her farmhouse kitchen, she in her rocking chair and me beside her. 
“Take small stitches,” Nanny would tell me.  “We don’t want gaps in the quilt.”
We must have done well, Nanny and I, because the quilt stayed together through many years …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
 As I read Kelly’s blog about the Old Feed Sack Quilt she found at a thrift shop in Nevada, I was transported back to my childhood when I made quilts with my grandmother from old feed sacks.  These sacks once contained feed for the chickens my aunt and grandmother raised.
We also used these feed sacks for making clothing.  I still have a draw string skirt I made as a 4-H project when I was 7-years old.  I also remember making a feed sack apron before I did the skirt. 
After Kelly found her quilt she began to research the fabrics.  Some may …read more