My husband’s grandmother was an excellent quilter. She didn’t use a machine; she showed her love by hand-quilting, one stitch at a time. The quilt we always use in the summertime was made by her. We have used it since we are married, over 15 years! It’s still going strong, providing warmth and love to us.
Can you see the hand stitches?
The most impressive quilt she made for my husband was a quilt embroidered with all 50 U.S. states. She embroidered 7 things for each state: (1) state name; (2) state shape, (3) state capital; (4) the year the state became part of the U.S.; (5) the number representing the order the state became a state; (6) state bird; and (7) state flower. What intricate and beautiful work! She made 4 quilts like this–one for each of her 3 children, and a special one with red-white-and-blue ruffles for my husband.
I can’t imagine how much time and love she put into those quilts. Her attention to detail and artistic skills took my breath away!
Granny was such an inspiring and prolific quilter. My father-in-law gave me some of the quilt tops she left when she passed away.
Some of her quilt tops were made from her old dresses and her children’s old clothes. I picked a quilt top that was full of fond memories and used parts of it to make a tote bag to hold a Christmas gift for my father-in-law several years ago.
My very first quilt was a small comforter for my daughter. I made it while I was pregnant with her. It features the letter S, for my daughter Sara, who is actually named after my husband’s late grandmother. My daughter is still using the quilt, but it’s getting small for her now. Kids grow up so fast!
All the quilt squares were ready to go!
I have collected a bag of cutouts from my son’s baby clothes, and a bag of my daughter’s. I plan to quilt something out of the pieces of their old clothes as a memento for them when they’re off to college. Luckily I still have a few years before I need to make my son’s😁
Thanks Angel for sharing mama quilts. I still have a lot of tops that she had made.. Mama and my granny were sewing tops and quilting as far back as I can remember. Love you all. Aunt JoAnn.
Hello Aunt JoAnn! Thank you for visiting my blog. Granny’s quilts are so beautiful and well-made that they will surely be passed on for generations 🙂
Had tears in my eyes reading this, I was in a quite similar situation.
Thank you for reading my post! I’m glad we have similar experience!!
I am looking for the pattern to the State quilt. I am almost finished embroidering all the blocks, but I can’t find the pattern of how to put it together. I have searched the internet hoping to find it and haven’t been able to. Any ideas?
Hi Lorie! You must be very good at embroidery! I think you can come up with your own order to quilt the state blocks together, with a border or without a border around each block. I’m sure your state quilt will look great!