Katia

It's late and I was just looking through all the beautiful quilts in the pictures section and thinking about what sort of quilt I want to do next. I started thinking about the quilts my Gramma and Mom made when I was a kid. Those quilts were to use on our beds and stay warm. And although some were so pretty, many were just squares sewn together.
I remember helping Gramma cut out fabric squares with a paper pattern and pins. Using the pattern over and over till it fell apart in your hand. How she made corners match I will never understand. Gramma never owned a rotary cutter.
We had a coat factory in our town when I was young and Mom used to go there to get scraps. You could buy a huge bag for a few dollars. Never knew what colors you would get, but they were solids and probably poplin, so fairly stiff. She created some beautiful quilts from that stuff. Although they did take some breaking in to be soft.
I don't remember ever seeing a quilting magazine around the house. But I do remember the names of some of the quilts they made. There were Flying Geese, and Drunkards Path, ( pretty funny when you are 8) and Wedding Ring and Double Wedding Ring and Flower Garden. I always wondered how they knew what to do.
I started sewing with my Gramma very young. Mostly on paper. But the most fun was when she let me use the scissors to cut the pieces apart or to cut between the ties of yarn when she was tying a quilt. I had to climb all over the table to reach. But that was the best. Just being with her, doing important grown up stuff. She never quilted her quilts, they were just tied. But it did the job.
She also never used the batting we have now. She often used old blankets or flannel sheets. I have what is left of a quilt she did for my sister. She used a wool blanket. Not a good idea. It is a flower garden, so lots of tiny pieces. My sister and I spent a whole day carefully clipping and taking out all the ties a few years ago. She had washed the quilt decades ago and it shrank of course. But she kept it anyway, hoping to figure out a way to save it. I still have it and plan to fix it somehow. My middle daughter never got a Gramma quilt and I want to fix this one and give it to her. I know it will not be as big as it should be, but it will still be special. And I know Gramma will be honored.
So, what memories do you have of quilting way back when? Has it always been an art to you or a utility thing. I feel that anything we make can be both. A warm quilt can be useful and beautiful. New patterns and techniques come along all the time. And then some times, like with my Mom and Gramma, we do the best we can with what we have. My I spy quilts were ones where I and my sisters could look at the blocks and pick out fabrics they used in our dresses. Funny how little things like that make what we do now seem even more special. Like part of our legacy, I guess.