My Life as a Rag Quilter

       My mother had a younger sister.  Her name was Marjorie.  When it came to aunts, Aunt Marge was the best.  She did not have any daughters, just two sons, so she enjoyed her relationships with all her nieces.  Over the years she stayed in close contact with all of us and took an interest in everything we did.  Aunt Marge was also my Godmother.  So she was extra special in my book.
      Every summer, when I traveled to my lake house in the Adirondack Mountains, I would stop overnight at Aunt Marge's house to visit with her and my Uncle Ted.  They were always busy.  I loved seeing all the projects they had themselves involved in. Uncle Ted built boats in the garage and Aunt Marge loved to sew for herself and other people (especially children). It was not uncommon for her to have several things going on at the same time.  Her sewing machine was always open. Aunt Marge was thrilled that I was quilting.  She enjoyed hearing about the projects I was involved in and often encouraged me to try the things she was doing.  That's how I got hooked on rag quilts.
     Shortly after I started quilting again, Aunt Marge presented me with a soft comforter that she made. She called it a rag quilt.  I had never seen one before.  I loved it; not only because the colors were perfect in my family room, but also because it was so warm and soft.  I use it often in the winter, wrapping myself in the quilt and curling up in my favorite chair near the fireplace.

   The quilt is made with 42 eight inch squares of soft flannel.  The total size of the quilt is about 44 x 49".













     Of course I wanted to try my hand at making rag quilts.  And I did!!  For a while I was rag quilt crazy.  I ended up making five rag quilts for Christmas presents.

                          A space-themed rag quilt for my nephew, Matthew

              Hearts and flowers in delicious little girl colors for my niece, Ally      

              Another flowers and stripes in candy colors for my niece, Kathleen

      Then I decided that I'd make a couple more for my two best friends, Barb and Lynn.  Selecting fabrics was starting to be fun. There were so many choices. I tried to choose themes or colors that went with the recipient.

Lynn's quilt used bright, light colors, just like her house

Barb's quilt was a camping theme
                                  

This was also the first time I signed my quilts

       But of all my rag quilts, the one I was most proud of was the one I made for my husband, Tom.  He loved using my quilt when he watched TV.  He hinted that he too would like a rag quilt, but he would want it larger.  So I went to work on his Christmas present.  I decided the color theme would be blues and whites to match the colors of his high school.


        To make the quilt larger I used 12-inch squares.  On the square in the upper right corner I added something a little special. I cut the front off of a tee shirt and sewed it to the square.  It was the best present I gave that Christmas.  And not a day goes by that the Benedictine quilt is not used.
      This past summer I found a quilt shop in Fly Creek, New York that had a fantastic collection of flannel.  I selected a collection to make one more rag quilt......for ME.  A person can never have too many rag quilts.  
      All my quilts are special to me but now my rag quilt from Aunt Marge is even more special to me since we recently lost her.  Aunt Marge died after a very courageous battle with cancer and went home to be with the Lord.  Every time I finish another quilt I miss sharing my joy with my godmother and favorite aunt.  But I have a feeling she and my Mom are looking down from above with smiles of approval on their faces.  


             

Sew, the Time Has Come to Be a Quilter....For Real

        I finally retired in June of 2008.  The next phase of my life was out there right in front of me. It was now or never.  I decided it was time to get real about this hobby of quilting. At least give it a try and see if I still liked it.
       My local sewing store, JoAnn's, advertised a beginner's quilting class.  What better place to start then at the beginning. Aunt Tillie and Grandma had given me the desire. But after talking to my Aunt Marge, who was presently doing quite a bit of machine quilting, I realized I lacked the basic skills for today's quilting projects.  So I signed up for a series of lessons.
       When I arrived at the first class with my trusty 40 year old Singer sewing machine, that Grandma had given me for a wedding present, the supply list was the first thing that greeted me.  If I wanted to be a quilter it looked as if I needed a lot of "stuff" that I hadn't accumulated as a garment sewer: rulers, more rulers, mats, rotary cutters, blades, markers, special pins, and of course, fabric; lots of fabric. Well, this had better be my new calling, because I was jumping in with both feet.  Out came my credit card.  I bought all the supplies and the book that, along with the teacher, would be my guide.  Here I go!!!

     After struggling once again selecting my fabric (eggplants came back to haunt me), I found the project to be quite interesting and ideal for a beginner.  This book even devoted a whole chapter to selecting fabric.  It was made for me!!   First I learned about the basics of measuring and cutting.  And then when I started to put the blocks together my world was opened up to half square triangles, flying geese, nine-patches, log cabins, strip sets and chaining.  And I found out the hard way about the importance of your 1/4 inch seam.  As of today I have accumulated quite a stack of quilting books but I still refer back to Hawley's book from time to time. It has served me well. 

    This is my "almost finished" project from that first quilt class.  It is a nine block sampler that measures 54 1/2 inches square.  I've got the backing fabric ready to go.....all I have left to do is QUILT IT!!  Little did I know that this was the beginning of another collection:

       UFO's.............UnFinished Objects

       PIGS's.............Projects In Grocery Sacks

       or PHD's.............Projects Half Done

      My only regret is that Grandma, Aunt Tillie and Mom weren't around to see the results of all their teaching and encouragement.  

   

Getting Closer to a Whole Quilt

   

       Sometime in the late 60's or early 70's, after the 31 yellow blocks were put away and forgotten (out of sight, out of mind) I decided that I wanted to try again.  I was determined to make a quilt from start to finish. This one was going to be for me and the colors would go nicely with the color scheme of my bedroom.
      I don't know where the pattern came from.  It sure wasn't out of a beginner's quilt magazine.  I do know that acrylic templates and rotary cutters were not part of the project.  And I sure didn't do myself any favors about achieving my goal of completing a quilt.  Not only were there 16 pieces to each block, but there were also set-in seams AND curved seams.  If history was any indication, my interest would surely fade long before the last stitch was completed.  And it did.
      It is now 2013 and I recently pulled the quilt from my Grandmother's old hope chest that sits in my guest bedroom.  It was right there tucked in the chest along with 31 yellow star blocks.  The top is completed (all by hand) and it has been basted to the backing.  I even started the hand quilting.  It's about a third of the way through. This project is the closest to being a completed quilt I had come so far.
      I may not remember starting this project, but when I look at the quilt it brings back a vision.  I'm sitting on the front porch of the Limekiln Lake summer house with this big maroon quilt on my lap quilting away and chatting with my mother-in-law.  I guess that's where I did most of the work on the quilt.  Unfortunately, I no longer have a room in my house with that color scheme.  But  when, not if, I get this one done it would look very nice on my bed at the lake house where it has already spent so many summers.

The Almost-a-Quilt of Good Intentions

       I have been enrolled in an ongoing quilt class at Cottonpickers', my local quilt shop.  The class is called "Marti and Me".  As a member of the class, each month I am taught new quilting techniques and how to use the Marti Mitchell acrylic templates.  Since I've been enrolled for a number of months I've accumulated quite a few sets of templates to go with my ever-growing collection of acrylic quilting rulers.  These calibrated pieces of plastic make the quilting of intricate designs so easy.  And one of the goals is do execute the design without any set-in seams.
      As I was sitting at my sewing table the other night, completing an assignment for my next class, and surrounded by a pile of acrylic templates, I thought of Aunt Tillie and Grandma.  Boy would they have been amazed to see the tools I was using.  They probably wouldn't have bought them for themselves because templates cost money. But all the same, they would have been amazed.  And I could say the same for the rotary cutter.  These are tools I use everyday.  But when I first learned to quilt they weren't even around.
      II remember a number of years ago I  wanted to make a quilt that was more intrcate than my eggplant quilts.  I decided that my quilt should be just like one of Aunt Tillie's quilt.  I had every confidence that I accomplish this goal!!  I would change the design just a little from one she had made me.

        This is how the block was designed to turn out. The fabric would be a coordinating solid and print with a lemon yellow background.  There were 24 pieces to each block and they were shaped using 3 cardboard templates and cut with dressmaking shears.  I remember tracing and cutting every piece individually.

      As I recall, the center, six-point star was fairly easy.  All straight seams.  It was the spokes around the star that were difficult because it was loaded with set-in seams (the place where three pieces come together).    

   Now, this is where I should display a picture of the finished quilt.  But Alas!!  That's as far as my good intentions got.  Today I have a nice little pile of THIRTY-ONE completed blocks ready to put together.  Why didn't I ever finish it?  Probably for the same reason I have 7 quilt tops hanging in my closet ready to be put together.  

You know, it would make a really pretty quilt.  I should finish it. 

I wonder how Marti Mitchell would construct this block?

   

The Eggplant Quilt

     Today, whenever I start a new quilt,  I find the hardest part of that project is selecting the fabric.  I truly struggle over my decisions and constantly second guess myself.  Nothing ever seems right.  Nothing ever looks as beautiful as the magazines. And no matter how many books and articles I read on "Selecting Your Fabric", I never seem to get it right.  This problem is nothing new.  It goes way back to my VERY FIRST QUILT!  
    After several years of sewing classes, where I learned garment sewing, and after mastering the art of knitting from my grandmother, I was finally ready to move on to my next domestic arts challenge....quilting.  I wanted to learn to quilt like Aunt Tillie.  The ladies were more than happy to teach me.
    Grandma thought I should start with something simple like the Split Rail pattern.  The pieces were large and all the seams were straight.  Aunt Tillie had made such a quilt herself for my sister Janet.  Its pretty, in a simple kind of way. And the fabric choice makes the split rails stand out.

        And for my first quilt I was not going to use apron scraps.  I would go to the fabric shop and select all new fabric.  I decided on lavender and purple as my color scheme.  It was Grandma's favorite color and I had already decided the quilt would be for her.  It would go so nicely with the knitted afghan.
        My assignment was to select four fabrics for the front of the quilt and a fabric for the back.   I was advised to get a solid and small prints.  And, in selecting, make sure to combine light and dark.  So off I went to the fabric shop. The result was:
                               solid purple for the back (very nice)
                               solid lavendar (tasteful)
                               small lavendar check (lovely)
                               tiny floral with a touch of light blue (pretty)
            and..............big ugly EGGPLANTS (OMG! what was I thinking)
EGGPLANTS!!  EGGPLANTS??  EGGPLANTS!!!  Who in their right mind puts eggplants on a quilt.  What was I thinking !

HERE IT IS!!  THE EGGPLANT QUILT

      Grandma thought it looked beautiful.  And it was a project I completely pieced and quilted myself by hand, just like Aunt Tillie would have done.  If Grandma was taken aback by the appearance of EGGPLANTS she never let on.  

      But to this day, when I'm in a quilt shop selecting fabric for my next project, I say a little prayer.  "Please God don't let this quilt turn out to look like EGGPLANTS"  Amen!!

     

 

At First I Tried Needles

      Grandma and Aunt Tillie were not just quilters.  They were also quite talented when it came to using needles; both knitting and crocheting.  And their talents extended beyond "garbage slippers".
      Grandma used to crochet squares into afghans.  

      Aunt Tillie used to crochet too.  She made edgings for pillowcases.  I was always amazed at how thin the thread could be for crocheting.  She used two colors and mingled rick rack in with the thread.  

By the time I got married I had two afghans and at least fifteen pairs of pillowcases with crocheted edges in my hope chest.  That was a long time ago.  I'm down to just two pillowcases and one afghan.  The pillowcases wore out from use.  I took the crocheted edges off the cases and saved some of the edges.  I don't know where the second afghan ended up.  

     My mother was good at crocheting.  I remember she crocheted gold shoes for my walking doll; Miss Sweet Sue.  But that's another story for another day. 

     For some reason I could never catch on to that crocheting thing.  I could never find my loop.  And if I did, my stitches were all different sizes.  My patience wore out.  

     So my grandmother tried me on knitting.  She was the one to get the teaching assignment because we were both left-handed.  Now for some reason I caught on to knitting.  And I decided to make Grandma an afghan.  Purple and white were my colors of choice.  It was made with knitted rectangles that actually had a design (pattern) to them; called the basket weave.  I was so proud of the end result.  I even learned how to make fringe.  And Grandma was very impressed as you would expect a grandmother to be.  

    The afghan is back with me again.  And that's just fine.   After Grandma passed away my mother had it for a number of years.  And then after Mom passed away, and we emptied her hope chest, there was the afghan.  My siblings decided I should have it back.  

     The purple and white afghan sits in my guestroom for any welcomed visitors to use.  Whenever I walk by and look at it, a flood of fond memories come back.  Aren't family treasures great?  

     And now, I have been teaching my nieces, Kate and Allyson, to knit.  Their stitches are still loose, and they drop the loop a lot, but I'm having a fabulous time. They seem pretty thrilled with their accomplishments. And I'm just as proud as an aunt could be.  Maybe one day one of them will want the purple and white afghan for their guestroom.  And I'll tell them the whole story.   

  

Old Quilts Never Die, They Just....

....get turned into pillows!

                    

   When my mother passed away in 2008, and my father decided to move to a retirement village, it was time for us to pack up the house on Westland Rd that my parents had lived in since 1952.  It wasn't a totally sad event because my brother was buying the house.  But we still needed to clean, pack and purge because for some reason my brother did not want 56 years worth of "stuff" in his house.  I guess I can't blame him.   

      My father showed me the Aunt Tillie quilt that had been on the bed.  It had been used for many years, laundered numerous times and had seen better days. 

     "Can this be mended?" he asked.  

     "I'll see what I can do," was my only promise. 

     I didn't have much hope for the old treasure.  The quilt was one of the appliqued designs that Aunt Til had made with the leftover apron fabrics.  And like all of Aunt Tillie's quilts, it was done completely by hand.  It was really pretty, but the edges of the pieces were frayed and the thread was breaking from age. 

     The quilt sat in my sewing room for a couple of years.  Every once in awhile I would unfold it, look at it, and think.  But no solution ever came to me.  

     Then one evening, as I was browsing through some old quilting magazines, the idea came to me; PILLOWS.....one for every member of the family for Christmas!  I sure do wish the thought had come to me long before November 23rd.  I had my work cut out for me: ten pillows in one month.    

      So with Dad's permission I washed the old treasure one more time and started carefully taking the quilt apart.  I got down to the original 36 blocks.  I selected the ten best blocks and squared them up.   

  

       Next step was to rummage through my stash and select fabrics for the borders and piping that complimented each flower. Since coordinating fabrics has always been difficult for me to do, making these 10 pillows gave me great practice with this skill.   I was surprised at how quickly the pillows went together.  I was done with a few days to spare.  

     Did you ever give a gift to someone for Christmas that you loved so much that the excitement of the giving made the whole holiday for you?   That was how it was with my pillows.  I gave everyone their wrapped bag.  When the gifts were unwrapped, and with tears welling up in my eyes, I explained the story behind the pillows and how they came to be.  I looked over at my sister. She had a big smile on her face and tears in her eyes too.  It was then that I was sure.  I had done the right thing with the old quilt. 

      PS:  I still have the other 26 blocks.  Some are pretty sad looking.  But I just can't bring myself to getting rid of them.  I'll think of something.  

Grandma Was Up to Monkey Business

      If you walked into the ladies' house in the afternoon you'd probably find bottles of YooHoo Chocolate drink in the frig waiting for any guests who might just pop in.  You'd also find Aunt Tillie upstairs, sewing and Grandma downstairs, sewing.  Of course they would stop what they were doing to sit and visit.  I hated to interrupt their work.

     Grandma did all kinds of sewing; both with the machine and by hand.  She made quilts with a pattern that she called "Round the Mountain".  The entire quilt was  constructed of squares about three inches in size.  You started with one square in the middle and worked around and around until the quilt was big enough for the bed.  Today I look at the two "Round the Mountain" quilts I'm fortunate enough to own and I marvel at the workmanship and am dumbfounded when I think of the hours it must have taken.

                                          Here is the center of the quilt.

               Each trip around the mountain was done with a different fabric.

And amazingly that the quilt was constructed with all set-in seams.  This means the point of one square had to be set into the V of the previous row.  It is a time-consuming process and one that is avoided at all costs today.  They were not straight strips of  squares like you would find in today's quilt patterns.  

         But I digress!!  I was talking about Monkeys.  

      What Grandma was really known for was her sock monkeys.  She made sock monkeys long before they were fashionable and seen in stores.  In fact, the only place I ever remember seeing sock monkeys when I was a kid was at Grandma's house.  She had monkeys everywhere and in every color.  

          These two monkeys belonged to me and my sister, Nancy.  We passed them on to our nieces, Kathleen and Ally when we became their Godmothers.    

      It wasn't long before the whole family was involved in some way with the monkey business.  Since neither Grandma nor Aunt Til drove a car, my mother and aunt were responsible for buying the heavy-duty work socks that formed the body of the monkeys.  The only place Mom could find the work socks was in the Montgomery Ward catalog.  Maybe that's why we all called the store Monkey Wards. She bought them by the the dozens.  

     Once the bodies were constructed they had to be stuffed.  Remember, the ladies were very frugal.  Grandma was not about to go out and buy stuffing.  So it was the job of every female in the family to save their old, runny stockings and pantyhose for Grandma to stuff the monkeys with.  We called the hosiery "monkey guts".  Everybody kept a bag of monkey guts going: my cousins, my aunt, my mother, my sisters. And all those runny old stockings were stuffed into the monkeys.  

      I remember the first time we saw commercially made monkeys in the stores.  We called Grandma on the phone!!!  "Grandma, we saw store-made monkeys.  But don't worry, they aren't as good as yours."  And they weren't.

      Grandma's Monkey Business has long since closed down.  But monkeys have lived on in our family in oh so many ways.  In 1982, when Grandma turned 90 years old I made her a monkey birthday cake.

        And the popularity of monkeys continues today.  My granddaughter, Katherine, loves the story of the five monkeys jumping on the bed.  I couldn't give her a Grandma Monkey.  So I did the next best thing.  I made her a monkey quilt with a matching pillow case.  Wouldn't Grandma be surprised to see that today you can buy monkey fabric!!

The Life of Aunt Tillie's Quilts

     I've scoured the family and these are the quilts, made by Great Aunt Tillie, that still exist today.  As you can see some have survived better than others.  But all are loved and cherished.  If there are others out there I hope they surface. Hint Hint:  just a picture will do!  I don't expect anyone to part with an Aunt Tillie Quilt that they own.

  The Butterfly Quilt.  This appliqued quilt is on my bed and has been repaired several times.  When it absolutely must be laundered  I say a little prayer and hold my breath that all the butterflies will emerge as beautifully as they went in.

This pieced quilt is on my guest bed and I call it The Hexagon Wheel.   I don't know if the block has another, more formal name. Maybe I should research that.  It has held up very nicely.

This quilt was given to Aunt Tillie's granddaughter, my second cousin, Donna Lee.  She in turn passed it on to her son, my second-cousin-once-removed, Jason.

I could tell from the emails I exchanged with Jason that he appreciates the value and history of the quilt.  It has found a good home and seems to have held up well over the years. I don't remember seeing a block pattern like this in any of the books I've read.  I guess more research is needed. I will call it The Sun Burst.

           The Flower Quilt is a popular appliqued quilt in the family. Aunt Tillie made several of them.  This one belongs to my sister, Jean. My Mom and Dad had one too (but that's another story for another day).  Like the Butterfly Quilt, this one has not held up well at all.  It can't be used anymore. The best place for this quilt is under glass in a quilt case.

       When I look at which quilts have lasted and which have not, I notice that the pieced quilts have survived, but the appliqued quilts have not.  Aunt Tillie made ALL her quilts COMPLETELY by hand.  There isn't a machine stitch on them.  But alas, she did not turn the edges of the appliqued pieces.  So over the years the fabric has frayed and pulled away from the delicate, evenly spaced blanket-stitched edges.  That's OK, I love them all just the same.

From Aprons to Quilts

     When I look at the old quilts on my bed I see aprons.  To understand how you go from aprons to quilts you have to understand "the ladies" and the times they lived in.  Grandma and Aunt Tillie grew up in the same generation with just five years difference in their ages.  Grandma was born in 1892 and Aunt Til is 1897.  Today the media attaches names to each generation; the Baby Boomers, Generation X.  If I were going to name Grandma and Aunt Tillie's generation I would call them the Make-do Generation.  When World War I broke out the ladies were teenagers.  They joined many others of their age who made bandages for the troops, saved scrapes of metal for the military and sacrificed at home for the cause in every way they could.  They had to make-do with what they had.  Then, when they were young brides, the depression came about.  Again they had to make-do with what they had as they raised their young families.  And as if that wasn't enough, then followed World War II.  Once again the ladies were called upon to make-do as they watched their sons go off to another war and again sacrificed for the cause at home.   I marvel at the quiet stamina of the women of that generation.  I often wonder if I would have fared as well as Grandma and Aunt Til and all the women of the Make-do Generation.
      And for the cause of supporting the church, Aunt Til made and sold aprons.  I don't know where the pattern came from, but it was clever, and oh so practical.  The aprons had a pocket on one side and a handy little towel on the other side.  You could tell how loved and worn the aprons were by the condition of the towels.
                     

Years of cooking and baking are woven into these last remaining treasures that I am fortunate enough to own.
      And it naturally followed that years of apron making created a fabric stash that any quilter today would die for. And because the Make-do Generation never threw anything away, scraps of leftover apron fabric gave birth to the "Aunt Tillie Quilts". Treasures that each member of the family would own.  To this day I look at my quilts from Aunt Til and I see aprons.