I've been thinking about my quilting days. Instead of aging with things I do, like, taking up quilting as I kept getting older, I've been doing things backwards! lol
What I mean by that is this.. We older people seem to take up quilting in our Senior years while thinking back to what we used to do before quilting. I, on the other hand, was quilting long ago but stopped when I started playing with computers and then started gaming. Now I think back to when I 'used' to quilt!!
Of course, when I started out on a computer I was just chatting with a few friends and once in awhile posting a picture or two. I was playing games privately but people kept at me to record my games until I finally gave in, and the rest is history there. I had laid my quilting aside and haven't quilted since!
I thought that as I aged I'd pick the quilting up again, but it seems like that's not going to happen!! So in this short Blog I'll look back upon my quilting days.
I have kept two or three quilts of mine for my own bed, but all my grandkids got a quilt and all my sons, I think.
Here's two I kept:
I also had a quilt left to me by my grandmother which she hand quilted back in the 30's (I was born in "36) and she gave it to my mother to keep for me about that time. So, it eventually got really old. As it aged it started coming apart as the threads 'rotted'. I had passed on that quilt to one of my daughter-in-laws before that started to happen. So she cut it into the best kept squares and framed them. She wrote information about the quilt and attached that on the back of each frame. I had given her a package of old, old needles and an old, old spool of thread. She threaded the needles and made a stitch on each square, sort of letting the thread swirl down a couple of inches. She then kept one, gave each of my other sons one, and gave me one. Now they all have something from their great-grandma. If I ever find a picture of that I might show it to you later on.
I started designing my own quilts after the first one or two which I made. It was more fun to dream up my own. By the time I quit quilting I had drawn up a lot of squares for lots of quilts that I wanted to make, and had made some of the squares. When I started on my computer I gave all of those quilts and squares away for anyone who wanted to make a quilt with them, or an art piece for a wall. Actually I took all that to a quilting craft show and left them with all the stuff people could take or buy! They were all snapped up!! Here are just a few of the tops and squares I took there:
I taught one of my granddaughters how to quilt and she designed her own and finished it and put it on her bed. I was shocked because she was only about 12 or 14 and I showed her very little! She just "took off" with it! Like she had already known how! lol
I love how quilting can capture a families history and is kept going with each generation :) Also, the sunset quilt is so AMAZING!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Wen!! I loved making up my own ideas instead of following patterns! :)
DeleteYour quilt designs are so pretty. You have such a great artistic eye for things which shows in your Skyrim screenshots.
ReplyDeleteThat is great that your daughter in law took the old quilt and used it in a way to help preserve it.
Your granddaughter finishing a quilt that young is awesome! What a great memory for her that you got her started.
I have always loved handmade quilts. I remember my mom being part of a quilting group when I was in elementary school. She unfortunately never finished the quilt she was working on. I have never had much of a love for sewing. Although if I do sew I prefer doing it by hand over using a machine even if it is slower.
I have always just handquilted because I never could get the 'hang' of trying to twist and turn a quilt under a small area like a sewing machine needle!!! LOL Much easier for me by hand! :)
DeleteGrandma, (hi!) it also depends on eyesight, ability to handle the eyestrain, and the health of the hands to decide at what point in life it's easier to do any kind of sewing work or play video games, but even though I like both one is much easier, right? Quilting at least seems easier than trying to tailor my own clothes ...
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd rather quilt than sew my own clothes, although I made a lot of my clothes when I was younger... before quilting! :)
DeleteHi Shirley! It's so lovely to see them, I think it's wonderful how we are able to turn one thing into something else so beautifully - memories really do live on in that way I think.
ReplyDeleteDo you think you would ever pick it up again? I guess never say never, right, but gaming is just too addictive to stop I find!
My own mother likes to craft things for her family (a labour of love she calls it), and I have a lovely handmade quilted pillow by her. I think I lack the patience for it, but seeing some of the tapestries you have made with them I am just in awe :) Talent and beauty are all around us xx
I agree with your thought that "Talent and beauty are all around us!!" I don't think I'd be able to pick it up again because of arthritis in my hands. But I could draw designs for it. :)
DeleteHi Grandma! Your skills with a needle and thread are incredible! My mom was a great sewer too, she taught me a bit about quilting. She decided she wanted to do a quilt on her own from scratch and it came out quite lovely. She had begun a second one but sadly, she did not get the chance to finish it as she passed away. It has been many years now and I still can see her in front of (or is it behind?) her old Singer working away on a project. What a great memory that is, I know she absolutely loved it!
ReplyDeleteI, on the other hand, have mostly done hand sewing, many of those tried and true methods get the job done well enough! I learned a few different stitches from my Auntie who could whip up something in no time despite having had polio as a child and having limited use of her right hand. I absolutely LOVE sewing! I happily do all of my sisters mending, as she is not into sewing at all!
My sister's son gave me a sewing machine and I hope to make something... I have no idea what! I also have some clothes that need some alterations which might be a good starting point. I have to admit machine sewing is quite intimidating to me! I hope to at least learn how to do the basics, maybe I'll even like it as much as I like hand sewing!
Thanks for posting this blog, it has me thinking about going for it! Have a great rest of your day/evening! xox 💜
I'm so glad that posting this made you seriously start thinking about it!! I loved the hand sewing because it was just to confusing to me trying to get enough of a particular area of a quilt tucked under a machine needle to do what I needed to do with it! lol My first machine was an old singer also. But when I was very young I learned on my mother's old singer which had a "treadle" at the full which you had to keep pushing to turn the motor to run the machine!! LOL
DeleteSo many pretty ones! I admit, it's not that normal where I live, we knit more I think, but all in all, I do believe it's more important to do something you love, than to look back at something and think I loved to do that, instead of doing it ^^
ReplyDeleteMy problem is that I can't manipulate my fingers with a needle any more because of arthritis in my hands.
DeleteThose quilts are fabulous indeed! 😊😁
ReplyDeleteIt is funny how your hobbies evolved, true 😆 Glad your hands are working well enough for you to keep playing! 😊
And hats off for your granddaughter, your genes are mightily strong and she is a very skilled young lady, to finish such a project at such a young age! 😊
In my corner of the world, knitting is a more common pastime than quilting, methinks, but having a scarf knitted by your grandma is like the proverbial badge of honor! 😁
And I love how quilting quite literally threads through several generations of your family, tying you all together 😊 Especially those framed pieces of that quilt - now that is a unique heirloom! 😁
It is very cool that even after you stopped quilting, your skills and materials helped other craftsmen-and-women with their own projects!
I am personally not very good at sewing, much as I'd like to change that (but where is the tiiime for that, I wail!), so I have a lot of respect for you deft-handed folk! 😁
(But I can bake you all something tasty to keep your energy up, ha! 😉😁)
Thanks for sharing your craft with us, Grandma! And have a lovely day with a cup of something warm and delightful! 😊
Thank you so much Hervissa!! My hobbies evolved because thankfully technology evolved. Gameing and such was rather young I think back when I started.. which was before I ever even dared think about recording my own games!! lol Yes quilting has gone through several generations of our family but now, unless my granddaughter shows her daughter, it will probably have stopped as more and more older people have grown up with gamin. Most all of the young people tell me all the time that when they grow old they will still be gaming also.
DeleteHi, Grandma! 💛
ReplyDeleteThat's just all around beautiful!
The idea of your daughter-in-law to frame the squares your grandmother made is brilliant! I bet it looks wonderful!
I guess, your granddaughter inherited your creativity and craftiness^^ It's really impressive for such a young person to take to an elaborate artform like that! :D
Currently I have a half finished underskirt in my lap lol I love making art and crafting and sewing and such!^^
And since the chestnuts have fallen in the last weeks I made a ton of garlands and hung them all over the house. Like I did when I was a kid. It looks like I live in a deer feeding station and I love it! 😂
It's sad that all things have some kind of stigma. Like, "Video Games are for kids" or "Knitting is for older folks" when really everybody can enjoy all those things and age has nothing to do with it. I used to be so ashamed when I was younger, because I enjoyed hobbies that were seen as "old fashioned", but recently I've seen a trend to change this, which is awesome! Kids online sharing sewing and crochet techniques, little decorating hacks. It's so cool!! :D
People openly subverting stereotypes. Like you!! 💛
Your quilts are so great! Thank you for showing us! You're a true artist!
Is there anything you can't do? lol Skilled and talented quilter, writer and adventurer - tell us the truth, you're a mage, aren't you? ;)
My real-life-grandmother used to knit, but she gave it up a long time ago. My favourite thing she ever made for me is a floor-length hooded robe in sunset colours^^ It's starting to come apart in some places, unfortunately, but I'm thinking about patching it up - maybe in complimentary colours to distinguish her original work from my fixes to hide wear and tear.
It's always so inspiring to hear about and see other people's work. Yours gave me a boost. I'll finish my underskirt and then make a plan how to preserve the robe for some more years^^
Have a fantastic day!! And, please, do keep sharing your thoughts and creations with us! 🥰💛🤗
Thank you for being here Vagabond!! After stringing some of those chestnut garlands to hang any outside.. to see what might come by.. whether kids or animals?? lol You are so right about those stereo types for gaming and knitting, but from the comments I get those were changing way back when I fist started on a computer, which was a long time back!! Older people have been playing from when they were younger and a lot don't use real names etc because of getting snide remarks from younger people, but that has started to change now as the younger ones finally realize that they weren't necessarily to first to start all this. Your long knit robe sounds like a treasure to fix and keep, even when it is eventually tucked away and just 'kept'. :)
ReplyDeleteIt must feel so strange to have lived the rise of video games only to be treated as oblivious by the younger crowd. I feel weirdly protective of the games I grew up with. Like, I remember playing Pokemon Red as a kid and growing up with it, but tell someone "Oh yeah, I love those games" and often got "Aren't you too old to like that?" lol nope, never! ;D
ReplyDeleteI hid away a lot, because as a teen literally everything was considered uncool (no joke, EVERYTHING that wasn't hanging out in a bar we were too young to be at) so I cravenly gave up on people for a long time. I missed the beginnings of this revolution, but I'm so excited to see the effects!!! :D 🥰
I feel some of the things you are saying!! Believe me!! :)
DeleteHi Shirley! Great to see another post up. :D
ReplyDeleteI confess I don't know a lot about quilting. But I assume that patches can be taken from all kinds of fabrics, right?
There are so many beautiful quilts here! But I love the last one in particular. It's got kind of a gothic vibe to it.
Yes, you're right. Just cutting out squares or triangles etc out of fabric that you think will go nicely together, in various ways. :)
DeleteHi Shirley!
ReplyDeleteI've admired quilts of all types since I was small. Traditional designs, "crazy" quilts, whole cloth quilts, modern designs, tied...you name it the type of quilt and I can probably find something on it I love. And there is so much history in all the different types of quilts, too! I would love to quilt, but knitting has been the thing that captured my passion. But lately...I've been looking more and more at how to take patterns and design elements from quilts and transferring those into knitted blankets. There are a few Sawtooth knitted blankets out there, and they're wonderful. The "how" of the challenge captures my interest as much as the colors and history of quilts do. I hope all that makes some sense.
I find it really interesting that you were both a gamer and a quilter for a while, and it makes perfect sense to me. You have such a great eye for pictures in Skyrim - how you compose a picture and how you take them for an overall feeling. You're an artist, and a writer. You're still being creative, just in different ways!
Thank you so much!! Sorry I had missed this, but haven't been doing any blogging for quit awhile. Since I started on here, again, I though I'd look back and see what I was missing!! :)
DeleteLove your comment.
They look really cool.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Steven!!
DeleteReading about your quilting experiences brought back a lot of memories for me! My grandma was a quilter, and I helped on occasion with some for cousins as she would make quilts as wedding gifts for every grandchild :)
ReplyDeleteI remember making one for each of my grandchildren as well! That is a grandmotherly thing to do, I guess. My hands can no longer spend time quilter (arthritis) but I have fun on the PC lol
DeleteI know this is an old post, sorry for coming to it so late. If you did ever decide to start quilting again, you could quilt scenes from Skyrim! That would probably be really unique. I don't know much about quilting, but I don't think the ones I have seen, I've seen to many dragons in them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Chris!! I think the knuckles in my hands are too sore now (arthritis) to quilt any more. I have for quite a few years now. :) Now I play games on my PC lol
ReplyDeleteHey, grandma! All of these are veeery beautiful and i'm so glad you inspired your daughter in law to practice this hobby. Have you ever crocheted? I'm a 24 year old gamer that has been obsessed with crocheting every since rediscovering it and I've been called a gaming grandma for it often which I very much don't mind :D I'm also so lucky that my grandmas shared with me their patterns, unfinished works and good yarn. It's very bonding. Love you!
ReplyDeleteHi Laura!! Yes, I use to crochet a lot!! .. years ago!! I have arthritis and I have to give that up and give up my quilting!! I use to do embroidery a lot also which is mostly a thing of the past now.
ReplyDeleteShirley