Hi, sewing friends! I hope you’re all having a wonderful July. I have to say that my July has been crazy! My family has had a terrible virus and we’ve all been dropping like flies. It is lasting up to a week and is absolutely, 100%, completely no fun at all! It isn’t Covid, influenza, or anything else that has been tested for – it’s just a good ol’ fashioned week-long illness that has knocked us all down. In the midst of all of that, my sweet mother fell and broke her hip. Now that I’m better, I have been helping her to recover. Add in my adult children making a move from one house to another, pet-sitting for said children, county fair week, and a million other things, it’s been a July to remember. Having said all that, I am re-running an old blog post today from 2022. Forgive me for not getting a new one written. This is one of my favorites! I hope you enjoy!
I have a favorite quilt. I think it will always be my favorite. There are definitely other quilts that I love and my top five favorite quilts tend to shuffle around a bit, depending on what I’m working on at the time. That number one spot never changes though.
My favorite quilt is my Bookcase Quilt. I made it years ago right after my grandparents passed away. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that quilting is not therapy. It is just that! Through my mourning, I stitched. I designed. I quilted.
My grandparents had eight children and enough grandkids and great-grandkids that our holiday celebrations had to be held in a pole barn. No one had a house big enough for all of us! That being said, I did not inherit much from them, other than some of their clothes that I requested. No one else wanted those. I took those familiar shirts and cut them up to make my bookcase quilt.
The Items on the Shelves
Each item on the shelves represents something about Grandma and Grandpa. There’s a white squirrel representing the white squirrels they fed in their yard every day (fun fact: snow white squirrels are a real thing in our town), a coffee cup that looks exactly like Grandma’s white floral Corelle coffee cup, a pocket from Grandpa’s shirt, that is still home to a cigar and a scratch-off lottery ticket, and more. The books on the shelves are embroidered with topics pertaining to my grandparents or favorite quotes that they frequently said. My favorite: “Oh, that girl!” She was always saying that one about me. Ha!
The Memories
Sometimes it’s not the design of the quilt or the expensive fabrics in it that make it special. Sometimes it’s the memories. Sometimes it’s the healing process you’re going through when you make it. Sometimes it’s what the quilt stands for.
That’s the beautiful thing about quilting. We aren’t just creating blankets. We are creating keepsakes, heirlooms, and art. It is meaningful.
Do You Have a Favorite Quilt?
What’s your favorite quilt? Does it have a special meaning? Does it reflect a certain time in your life? I bet most of us have a quilt with meaning. I know several teenagers whose favorite quilts are t-shirt quilts. They feature the t-shirts they wore in high school. It’s easy to see why that’s their favorite quilt. It reflects a time in their lives that was exciting.
The quilts with memories exploding from the seams are truly the best.
In Memory of Charles and Rose.
‘Til next time!
Beth
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What a beautiful quilt. Definitely a family heirloom.
I love your memory quilt. So special. I hope your family is all better now and that your mom will heal and be fine. 🙏
Hope everyone is dong fine from the illness. This is definitely a very lovely memory quilt! Great imagination, time and love with this quilt and, yes, very therapeutic.