Old quilts

My former neighbor and I have had lunch a few times recently. I don't live in the city anymore, but an hour away and I miss our old neighborhood for the times it represents from our lives. My 82 year old neighbor is part of the missing. While we don't live in this city anymore our jobs are here and we do the hour commute to and from everyday. We've been in the city for a couple of weeks house sitting for my brother and sister-in-law and while here I reconnect with people I miss.

Last week Mary and I had lunch and she brought me this quilt top she discovered in a bag in the basement among her mother's belongings. She doesn't know where it came from, her mother wasn't a quilter. The quilt is made of old shirtings, the stitching is a little wonky but that may be because it's been washed but not ironed. No, really, it's wonky.

It's great fun to see that the person who made this quilt wore a lot of blue...and at least one red bandana. Mary didn't put any pressure on me to actually quilt it but suggested it would be a nice tablecloth with my Polish pottery dishes sitting on top. I don't know. Right now I'm just having fun noticing the fabrics in it. I don't like the idea of a glass of red wine being spilled on it, either.

The first time we lunched she brought me a small pile of old patchwork patches, some old pin cushions, and other things she's trying to find a home for.

My brother is the owner of three old quilts our great-grandmother made. She lived in Kentucky. She died one week short of her 101st birthday. She had five children, all three of her daughters entered the convent as teenagers and all died between 95 and 101 years of age.

I'm not sure how old these quilts are. I can't remember how old I was when she passed away but I do remember seeing her when I was maybe 7 or 8 years old. I'll have to ask my brother if he remembers dates better than I do.

I've been trying to take lots of pictures of these quilts while I'm at his house if for no other reason than to document them.

I do know she did everything by hand and I look closely trying to think what era these fabrics came from. I love the bitsy squares in this nine patch quilt. And I think most of the fabrics look to be the 30's. Maybe some in the 40's. Scrap baskets could sit around for a long time.

I have one of her quilts at home, the Grandmothers Flower Garden design.