auntdeb

My grandmothers did both tie and quilted quilts. I never even saw a 'blanket' till years after we moved away from them. To this day I prefer quilts.

carolinacurl

I prefer sleeping under quilts too. I just don't care for blankets.

cjsews

My grandma's the big heavy ones. When visiting we would sleep 3 or 4 in a bed. You had to get comfortable because you could not move with the weight of those quilts on you. Ahh nice cold Wisconsin winters made warm by grandma

tranum

My favorite has hand appliquéd morning glory blocks sashed with pink, made by Mom before she was married in 1942. I had it on my single iron bed growing up. I still have quilt ( in storage right now )and the bed that is way over 100 yrs old, in our spare bedroom so I see it every day.

Also have 3 beauties ( yellow, blue, green) made by Grandma. Small family, so I was given all the goodies!

carolstickelmaier

Me too. In fact I still have two of them. Outside layer is wool suiting and I have no idea what was used for batting. But I sure remember on each under one you never moved again.

cashs_mom

My father's mother made beautiful quilts. I have one she made for me with a matching doll quilt. She fussy cut the pieces and pieced it and quilted it by hand. I also have the double wedding ring she made which was probably one of her last quilts. I always remember my mother getting it out and letting me look at it and pointing out how tiny her stitches were. I still look at vintage hand quilted quilts and compare the quilting to hers.

zozee

My aunt was an antiques quilt dealer. Her home was full of earth tone ones, heavy in weight, and oh so cozy on her great big feather bed. She still decorates her bed & breakfast in quilts (Casa Pacifica in Santa Fe, NM).

Jan in VA

None of my grandmothers or great-grands or my mom quilted. In fact I actually taught my mom to quilt in the mid 1990s. But I have one memory of a quilt that is now in the Museum at Colonial Williamsburg, dated ca. 1780 by them, and that was made by Martha Frances Dabney Collier about 6 generations ago. Dad brought it home, having received it through a distant relative, and spread it out on their bedroom floor. I, at 9 years old, remember looking at it and thinking, "Huh, What's all the fuss about?" Forward 5 decades, and I was the one who donated out family quilt to Colonial Williamsburg.

Jan in VA

This picture doesn't show the bits of really lovely rose and intense aqua in the appliques of this quilt.
Jan in VA

bkay

My paternal grandmother had quilts, but I never saw her quilting or sewing. They lived in an old farmhouse where only the living room and kitchen were heated in the winter. When I was small, they would put about 4 of us to a bed under a ton of quilts in the unheated bedrooms. The sheets were so cold that you didn't dare move all night once you made a warm spot.

I remember the quilting frame at my maternal grandmother's house hanging from the ceiling in the winter. The aunts and older cousins would all sit around the quilt and sew while they visited. I now recognize that they were quilting the Baptist fan pattern. I don't remember sleeping there in the winter, but I remember sleeping on a pallet of quilts in the summer with lots of other cousins. She had a stack of quilts about 5 ft. high in a closet that came out when company came for the night.

Grandmother always made us flannel nightgowns for Christmas on her treadle sewing machine.

bkay

NZquilter

Wow, Jan in VA!!! That is an incredible piece of history! Thanks for sharing your story.