Many years ago when we were moving some furniture, my mother-in-law gave us a couple of old quilts her mother had made. She thought we could wrap the furniture in them and then throw them away. They were utility quilts made from single pieces of ticking, and I kept them because I thought they were the only quilts she had from her mother. Turns out she had another quilt that belonged to her mother. It was a signature quilt made by her mother's Sunday school class. It was in perfect condition and as my favorite type of quilt is signature quilts, I told her that was the one thing I would really like to have when they passed down family heirlooms. Some time later, when we went to visit, I noticed the quilt was gone, and she said a great niece had admired it so she gave it to her. Mind you, this was a great niece she had never met before that day. To say I was crushed was an understatement. But, it was her quilt, her family, and her decision. Mother-in-law has a huge need to be loved and this was her way of trying to buy that love from this newly met grand niece.
When the in-laws were moving here, mother-in-law showed me another quilt made by father-in-law's mother. She didn't know whether to put it in the auction or throw it out, and she asked me if I wanted it. I took it without hesitation. It's not in great shape, but it's not a cutter, and most importantly, my girls will have a quilt from their dad's side of the family as well as all the quilts from my side.
I don't know why there is a strip of aqua on one side. I thought at first that it was just a filler to make the quilt fit a bed, and maybe it was. But the more I look at it, the more I like the offset way it accents the blocks. Another interesting thing is that some of the fabrics in it are very similar to some quilts my great grandmother made. Ok, maybe that's not terribly interesting, most fabrics from the 1930's have similarities. But what is interesting is that in the 1930's his grandmother and my great grandmother lived less than fifty miles apart. It's fun to think they might have even met one time.
By the way, I love these websites to identify quilt patterns: Blockcrazy.com, McCalls Quilting
I didn't find this pattern at either website though. If anyone knows it, please let me know.
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