Cherry Blossom Quilt

My older daughter, Meredith, and I both have March birthdays. This year we decided to take a day for just the two of us and have lunch out and do a bit of shopping at some places we have always said "we should go there some day". So, "some day" finally arrived. We had a wonderful time-the weather was gorgeous, salads were delicious and the shopping was adventurous. 

One of the places we explored was an antique shop. There were many beautiful things there to tempt me, but I was being really good and resisting until Meredith spied a quilt that I couldn't pass by. 

I LOVE old quilts! And this one really called to me. It is a bit faded, has some stains and has quite a few tiny tears in it (looks to me like the previous owner may have had a cat that liked to "make biscuits" on it). But it is wonderfully hand appliqued and delicately hand quilted. The maker of this quilt was an accomplished quilter. It needed a new home where it would be loved and appreciated. And I knew just the place :)

I decided to call this my Cherry Blossom quilt. I bought it in Macon, Georgia,    which is the "Cherry Blossom Capitol of the World." There are over 300,000 Yoshino cherry trees in Macon. Every Spring Macon celebrates with their 10 day Cherry Blossom Festival, which includes parades, concerts, parties and a hot air balloon lift. I bought the quilt during cherry blossom time and the pinks just say cherry blossom to me. 

I don't know the name of this quilt pattern. It is similar to some dogwood patterns I have seen, but it's not exactly the same. Maybe it's a dogwood variation. It is a double bed size quilt (though I put it on a twin to take pictures.) A true find in every way.

Most of my old quilts are pastel, so this one fits right in with the rest of the collection. I like to use my quilts, but I display them too. I rotate them through my home and refold them periodically to keep them from deteriorating. I have this one hanging on a new quilt rack in my entry hall. 

When I showed this quilt to Meredith's three daughters they all oohed and aahed over it. They have a great appreciation for old quilts. I know that some day I can pass all of these old quilts down in my family and they will continue to be loved and cared for. 

If you know the name or origin of this pattern or have any info that would help me date this quilt, I would love to hear from you. 

Happy quilting!

An Antique Vignette

I am not a clutter person. I know a lot of people who are very creative with lots of "stuff" around them. They draw inspiration from being surrounded by colors, shapes, and objects. I am just the opposite. When I am cooking, I have out only the ingredients and tools necessary for that recipe. And I put it all away before I begin the next food. That doesn't mean that I can't have something simmering on the stove, something baking in the oven and be tossing a salad at the same time. I can multi-task as well as the next woman-I just like a neat, clean work area.

I am the same way in my quilt room. I may have 4 projects going at one time, but when I am working on a quilt, only that fabric is spread around the room. The other blocks, fabrics, patterns, etc, are neatly stacked out of the way, awaiting their turns. 

I had a notion once to be a scrapbooker. I tried really, really hard to make scrapbooks for each of my children. So far, they each have three (maybe four) finished pages. I bought magazines for inspiration, hundreds of pages of scrapbook paper, die cuts, stickers, embellishments, glues, scissors.......I could go on and on, but I think you are getting the picture. It filled shelves in my quilt room and was taking up a LOT of space. So, I decided to declutter. I moved all the scrapbook supplies to the closet (shelves and all) and now  that space is a reminder of days gone by. Days when our grandmothers and great grandmothers cooked over a wood burning stove and sewed everything that was needed for the family. Quilts were a necessary cover for warmth, not a decorative design element in the room. When I glance up from my sewing machine now, instead of scrapbook clutter, I am inspired by this.

Old Family Quilts

I just love old quilts. Wouldn't it be wonderful to snuggle up under an old quilt with a cup of tea and listen to all the great stories it could tell you? When I see a quilt in a museum or antique shop I wonder so many things about it. Who made you? Where did your fabrics come from? Were they left-over scraps from dresses and shirts or where they purchased just for you? Where have you traveled? How did you get to this place in your life?

I am fortunate enough to have several old family quilts. When I was growing up my brother and I each had a quilt that my paternal grandmother had made. Years later, after she died, I was lucky enough to be the recipient of 4 more of her quilts. They were all made in the 1930s and 40's-making them about 70 or 80 years old now.

Now, I know that lots of people would take these quilts and pack them in acid free tissue paper and store them away from light in a box in a closet. But, I want them to be seen, and loved, and appreciated. 

Three of these quilts adorn beds in our home. I have three twin beds in one of our bedrooms and I have decorated this room for our granddaughters. (We have two daughters  who have each given us three granddaughters-for a grand total of 6 girls, 0 boys!) When our granddaughters stay with us they are sleeping and dreaming under quilts that their great-great grandmother made! I think she would be so happy to know that.

The three beds adorned with quilts.

A close up of the quilt on the far left-the 

flowers and leaves are applique and the stems

are embroidered. You can also see the feather 

wreaths that are quilted in the alternating blocks.

A Dresden plate on the middle quilt. All of the

applique and quilting is done by hand.

Butterfly detail on the right quilt. The butterfly

bodies and wing details are hand embroidered.

The scallop border

I would love to know why my grandmother bought so much of this yellow fabric. All three quilts have the same yellow and muslin scalloped border. The flower quilt also uses it in the alternating blocks and two of the quilts are backed in the yellow fabric. I am glad that the three quilts are so different, yet go so well together in this room.

I have two more quilts that my grandmother made and five other old quilts that I have purchased, or have been given to me. There is just something about these quilts, and their untold stories, that intrigues me. I am adding labels to all of them, with all the information that I have about them. I also talk to my family about them, so long after I am gone, these quilt stories will live on.