Grandmother's Quilts

I recently visited my Dad in the Great State of Texas, and while I was there, my Aunt Sandy offered me the last couple of my late Grandmother's enormous cache of hand-made quilts. My Grandmother won ribbons at the Calcasieu Parish Fair back in the 80s (she died in 1989), and she made many, many quilts throughout her life. She had a quilt frame suspended over her bed, and when she wanted to quilt, she lowered it on its pulleys and sat by her bed and patiently -- so patiently -- stitched. I remember baskets of cloth remnants by her chair in the den (I don't think she used store-bought quarters).

I tried to quilt, I really did, but I am just a terrible seamstress. I once sewed an article of clothing onto my own pant leg. And my quilt squares were just never even. Anyway, I am now lucky enough to own four "Grandma quilts." A diagonal-patterned red one that I got when I was too young to remember getting it, another with a sort of pinwheel pattern I was given when I was a young adult, and now these two:

I don't know what these patterns are called, sorry ...

Aren't they gorgeous? I am looking for a quilt rack, so I can display them until winter. I can't imagine how many hours it took to make each one of them, then to sit by the bed and carefully stitch it all together.

Creativity runs in the family, though. My first-cousins-once-removed, young adults themselves, have a fabulous Etsy store which I am shamelessly going to promote. It's called The Evergreen Nest and is focused on fairies and that which pleases fairies!

I got these lovely items from Evergreen Nest:

I took the mushroom and the three ladybugs to work, and set them up on my desk with two of the ladybugs crawling around the mushroom cap. I swear they come alive at night ... when I come in most mornings, the biggest ladybug has moved a little! 

So, on to knitting issues ... 

Well, spinning issues. Tour de Fleece is starting the day after tomorrow. I did it once before, a few years back, and haven't since. To be honest, I haven't used my spinning wheel in quite some time! I think it's time to dust Esmerelda off and give her a good oiling, and then spin up some fiber for TdF. I do have a lot to spin. A lot to clean, card, and blend, too. I don't know that I'll want to do that in July, but I think I should have a go at some spinning.

In closing ... a sweet little recipient of one of the many cat mats I've been making lately. This little sweetie is at the Petco in Columbia, MD, snoozing on the top left. They had six kittens in the adoption cages. Very sleepy, smug kittens.












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