Image: sxc.hu

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 grandparents telling them, we think we’ll always remember.  Or we may even get tired of hearing them, so tune the person out.

Then, years later, we wish we could recall the details.

It isn’t always convenient to record while someone is talking or it makes them uncomfortable.  At least jot down some notes and record the details.  Sometimes you can even get them to write down their memories, as I did with my dad and aunt.

My mom enjoyed my “interviewing” her as I did other people in my work as a newspaper reporter.  “Are you going to interview me now?” she asked, as we settled at the kitchen table with a cup of tea.

Keep a record of these memories, even when you think you’ll never forget the endless tales of family members. 

Also, record your own memories! 

 ”Mom, you spend so much time on family history but don’t write down your own memories for us,” my daughter commented.  So I’m starting to record mine, too.

Post from: Blisstree

Recording Family Memories

Image: sxc.hu

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 delicious aromas came from her many dishes simmering or baking.

Do you have quilting memories?

Susan Lazear shares her memories of quilting with her grandmother in Repairing Family Heirlooms. She also shows photos of one of her grandmother’s quilts she and her mother have repaired.

Also, if you’re at a loss about repairing an heirloom quilt, Susan describes and shows in pictures how she and her mother did this one.  It may help give you some ideas and get you started.

Post from: Blisstree

Restoring Family Quilts & 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

Post from: Blisstree

Thanks for “Blankie” and Grandma Quilting Memories

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 chair beside her doing the same.  Auntie often cut the pieces for us from printed feed sacks and fabrics left over from her sewing. 

This is where Nanny made quilts for my sister, brothers and me.

Do you have special memories about a rocking chair or other piece of memorabilia?

(Amazon image)

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

Memories of Grandmother Quilting in Her Rocking Chair

(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 where I grew up (prior to selling it after Mother developed Alzheimer’s), I found my quilt.  Mother had folded it and placed it on a shelf in a closet.  There it had remained for many years.

I described this quilt, of 4-Patch design, in my Quilt Patch of the Week.

How pleased I am now that for some reason Mother saved it.

How about sharing your memories and preserving them for your quilting heritage?

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(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

Mary Emma’s Quilt Memories – Finding Nanny’s Quilt

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 wear anymore. We would sit on the sofa and she would trace a square pattern from a piece of card board that she had made. I still have some of these quilts today. They are colorful and d many great memories.

What wonderful memories!

What are your quilting memories?  They don’t have to be with Grandma.  Perhaps your mom, an aunt, a family friend, or a teacher quilted with you and provided you with reminiscenses.

(Amazon image; click here for details)

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

Sharing Quilting Memories

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 grandparent myself, I hope I’m passing on to my grandchildren…memories, values, and stories of their heritage.

You’ll also enjoy visiting the Lifestyles post and learning how grandparents influenced the lives of the other bloggers.

(Amazon image; details here)

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

A Tribute to Grandparents, Who May Have Encouraged Your Quilting

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 person may help as a memory and conversation jogger.
• Did they participate in quilt shows/exhibits?

Keep these albums simple…just a small book they can hold easily,which doesn’t involve complex situations.  They usually can process one memory at a time.

This also can be utilized as a group project at a nursing home. 

Have you used quilting as a memory jogger or a fun project with your Alzheimer’s family member…or with patients if you work at a nursing home?  Do share with us.

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

Creating Quilting Memory Books for Alzheimer’s Patients

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 of use, only fabric has worn out, not the stitches.

I still have that quilt, made of feedsack fabrics and leftover scraps from Nanny’s sewing.  I know it’s mine, because Nanny inked our names on one corner of each child’s quilt.

Do you have any memories involving your grandmothers and quilting?

(Amazon image; click on image for details.)

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

A Tribute to My Grandmother for My Quilting Heritage

 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 have been from feed sacks, others from sugar and flour sacks.  However, I recognized some as similar to shirts my brothers wore during that same era of the 1940s and 1950s.

Kelly has some very interesting photos, including close-ups of blocks, posted on her blog.  Do you see anything you recognize there as fabric you might be familiar with?

What fun to research the old quilts.  Thank you, Kelly, for stirring up my memories.

(Amazon image)

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

Memories of Feed Sack Quilts