Adding To An Heirloom

Day 36: The work on Mousie's grandmother's quilt is progressing much more rapidly than I had expected. All the "streets" dividing the blocks are done (shadow-quilting and twisted-ribbon "DNA"), the inside edge of the blue borders is stitched all the way around, and I've finished my first plate block. Now I'm taking a break from pushing the needle through multiple layers of fabric to work on the "character panels" (crow, mouse, goldfinch and hummingbird) on the side borders where there are only two layers of cloth sandwiching the batting. I elected to finish this plate first because it was the most problematic. There were issues with buckling in the blades, but I was able to overcome them without having to undo any of grandma's stitching (my priority is to preserve her work in its entirety), and other irregularities were accommodated to my satisfaction (if perhaps not to perfection). As Mousie herself has said, the irregularities make the quilt feel more "human." And now it's time for me to get back to work, doing my part in adding to an heirloom.

Long-Term Commitment

Day 21: The hard work is done: the designing, the transferring of designs, the repairs, the piecing, the pressing, the cutting-to-size, the backing and batting, the stretching and mounting, the pinning, readjusting the pinning, more pinning, pinning and re-pinning. Now all that remains besides adding a finishing binding is the actual quilting of Mousie's grandma's Dresden plates. Before the sun rose this morning, I had already shadow-quilted one of the blue "streets" separating the plates. When stretched on the frame with the bottom edge of the "street" less than a quarter inch from the stretcher clips, the intersection lies almost at extreme reach of my arms. I use the "stab" method of quilting rather than a running stitch which means that my left hand always drives the needle up from beneath the fabrics and my right hand stays on top to push the needle down through them. Years of practice have taught my fingers the proper angles to maintain relatively even stitches throughout.

The variation in any quilter's handiwork identifies them, and interestingly enough, I've made some discoveries through my knowledge of what a friend dubs "forensic quilting." Mousie's grandma's Dresden plates seem to have been applied either by two different stitchers or at two different times in its history. Some plates are attached with a less-than-expert whip-stitch. Others were applied with a true applique stitch. Likewise, the fabrics themselves belong to two different eras. For the most part, they are flour/feed sack prints, but the centers and a few of the blades are a more modern calico, distinctly different in weave and dye process than the utilitarian cottons from the sacks. But then the question arises: if a second quilter added the centers at a later date and applied some (but not all) of the plates to their muslin backing, how is it that some of the blades in the plates are made of the same fabric as the centers? Were those blades replacements for some which were damaged or too badly faded? That seems to be the only answer which fits all the evidence. Maybe I'll come up with another idea as I spend the next year or two adding my own stitches to Mousie's heirloom.

How To Tame A Pink Elephant

Day 16: How do you tame a pink elephant? That was the question I was asking myself with respect to Mousie's grandma's vintage and pink-heavy flour-sack quilt. We'd already decided that I'd need to cut it apart due to errors in spacing, but I specifically didn't want to undo any of her grandma's stitching, although there were a few places which asked for expert repair. The solution came to me in my sleep several nights ago: frame blocks with "streets and alleys." But what colour? Mouse expressed a preference for blue, so with that in mind, I bought two fabrics. This morning, I dove into the project with a will and when I finally allowed myself a much-needed break from sewing, I had over half of sixteen plates reassembled. Further plans include wide borders of the lighter blue (it's a bit greyer than it looks in the photo, and the muslin is natural, not white). Hand-quilted designs on the borders will allow me to put my skill alongside grandma's, eventually creating an heirloom Mousie can use with joy. She tells the story best in her words of thanks: "I cannot tell you how moved I am that you are undertaking this project - my grandmother died before I was born. She is a face in a picture - your work is making her alive for me." As legacies go, I could do worse.