Hello all. I'm covered in strips and threads, and I'm about to fall asleep, but I want to put words down while it is fresh in my mind.

My grandmother did all sorts of needlecraft: sewing, knitting, crocheting, tatting, etc. She made quilts out of her scraps and gave them all away. I have three that she made for me, and my mom has a double wedding ring that would have been mine if I hadn't waited until I was 32 to get married.

She made the quilt and told me it was my wedding quilt (when I was very single with no prospects). I asked her if I had to get married to claim it, and she just laughed and didn't answer me. I would see the progress as it went together, getting bigger and bigger, then I saw it on the frame my Papaw made that stood against the wall next to the twin bed in her bedroom. The frame got smaller and smaller as she quilted it, then one day the frame was huge again with another quilt on it. I asked where my quilt was and she said, "Don't you worry about that quilt. I put it up." I guess she got tired of waiting for me to get married, so she gave it to my mom when she first started getting Alzheimer's. I thought maybe mom would give it to me when I got married, but no dice.

When Granny passed away, none of the granddaughters wanted her crafting items, so my wife and I took a lot of it. My wife had just started expressing an interest in quilting, so I was hoping that the huge box of scraps would someday turn into a quilt for me.

Tonight after church I told her I wanted to find the box and wash all the fabric so we could start doing something with it. I washed the first load and pulled it out and started ironing. Occasionally I'd get a whiff of Papaw's pipe, even after washing them. As I pulled pieces from the basket, I remembered seeing some of the clothes on my grandmother and her sisters-in-law. Even some of the ones I didn't remember, I could match with one of them just knowing their personalities and styles. The scraps span the decades from (I think) the forties through the eighties, so I also saw some pieces that had been used for clothes for my cousins, my brother, my sister, and me.

Some of them didn't trigger any specific memory, but I would get a feeling of nostalgia that I couldn't explain. In particular, a scrap of dark, rich gold made me think of being in elementary school. I'm sure I never wore the fabric, but maybe my mom did. Maybe it was just such a prevalent color in those days that the color takes me back to where I was when I saw it so often. Another unusual scrap of flannel gave me a similar feeling of nostalgia. I'll have to dig my first quilt out of the cedar chest, but I think possibly some of that flannel is on it. It's done in 6" hexagons and may be a charm quilt. I slept under that quilt every night until I was in high school, and it was starting to get threadbare. I asked Granny for another one, so she asked what I wanted. I went to a fabric store and picked some fabric and she made me a pyramid quilt using those four fabrics. I found some of those scraps in the box as well.

Also in the box was about a dozen blocks of a double wedding ring quilt. I haven't looked closely at "Mom's" quilt lately, but these may be left over from that quilt. My wife was intrigued by the small pieces and the way the fabrics matched across the rings and in the intersections. She doesn't think it's too hard for us, so she wants to finish it. I hope someday we can.

I just decided that I needed to be starching as I press, and it's almost 2:00AM, so I threw the rest of the scraps in the dryer and started washing the second load. It may take me the rest of my life, but I want to do something with these little links to my grandmother that she left me. I'm toying with the idea of making lap quilts for my sister and brother and me. I have a tumbler template and a triangle template; it would be fun to make a charm quilt for all of us using Granny's fabrics.

I know many of you consider quilting to be a connection to past generations, so you understand the feelings I'm having tonight as I step through the past. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Darren

What a beautiful post. Thank you.

And she smiles...

What a great stroll!

Beautiful memories. You have some treasures in your hands.

Wow!
Such great memories you have!
I know you will do that fabric proud for Granny!

Wow! How exciting to have those treasured memories and be able to put them into a quilt(s), in memory of grandma!

How lucky you are to have such wonderful memories and mementos. It would be so much fun playing with all that stuff!

I know your Grandma would be proud that you cherish her scraps and such.

What a great post. What a tribute to your mom to use up her "extra fabric", and what a great story to go with the resulting quilt. Be sure to write down and photograph the whole story and save it with the quilt.

Darren, what a wonderful story. This is the perfect place to share that kind of story as we can all appreciate it. We cannot wait to see what you are going to make with the fabrics. It's going to be so personally rewarding. :)

This made me smile, and I needed a smile today.

Thank you for sharing the precious memories. I will be cheering for you and your wife as you work on that wedding ring quilt, and all the other projects you make with that wonderful stash you inherited!

What a great story and the scraps aren't scraps, but pieces of your families lives to cherish. Have fun making a living memory with your "scraps".

Thank you for sharing a beautiful memory with us. My daughters each have quilts made by their mamaw and great-mamaws and they are such treasures. You and your wife are so very lucky to have a box of treasures to work with.

What wonderful memories and how lucky there is someone in the family left to appreciate her efforts and experience the enjoyment she felt quilting.

Best of luck with your projects. (Consider putting notes on the back of them that detail the history of the items for future "relatives".)

Your grandmother is probably smiling down on you for remembering all these things you mentioned, knowing she had a lot to do with creating your memories...I know you will make her proud with whatever you decide to create.

Darren, what a wonderful box of memories!!! And a great story too. Maybe someday, my(future) grandchildren will have some of my scraps and fond memories of all different pieces of fabric!

OO I wish I lived closer I would love to help you with this project and listen to the stories.....

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. I was afraid the long post would turn people off, but I did want to share the thoughts that came to me while I worked.

I'm looking forward to seeing what we can make with the scraps, and I'm sort of excited that Kimberly wants to continue the DWR quilt. I will post again when I start cutting. Right now I still have a basket and a half of scraps to press. That may take til I'm 50.

Darren

Aren't memories just the greatest? Be sure to show us what you make with your grandmother's fabric.

I so enjoyed reading your story with its memories. I posted just a few hours ago on another thread having to do with the way fabric speaks to us. I was helping a dear friend clean out her sewing room by taking boxes of what she called junk to the dump. Most of the boxes were filled with old papers, magazines, etc. My husband was filling the back of his truck with all this stuff when I thought I heard a small voice crying out "help me!" I freaked out when I realized this voice seemed to be coming from the box I was holding. I went through the papers and magazines on the top to discover over 300 hand sewn quilt squares hidden beneath. Sunbonnet Sue was the topmost square and it was she who was calling out to me. As I sorted through these treasures, I found many Sunbonnet Sues, many butterfly squares, some Amish Dahlias, some Crazy Quilt squares and others. I think the butterflies were trying to fly away from their entrapment in this box. When I asked my friend (now in her 80's) if she had forgotten about these squares, she said that she had indeed forgotten. Here is the part that made me weep; all these squares were hand sewn by her own late mother who lived to be 95! They would have been thrown away if I had not heard that small wee voice.

My friend wanted me to have these treasures, knowing how much I love these sort of things, but I could not do that. I did take enough Sunbonnet Sues and Butterflies to make my quilt, but the rest I gave to those women who had known both my friend and her mother.

Thank you for helping me to remember such poignant stories. :D

Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for taking us along on your stroll. It is a blessing to have such wonderful memories.

Darren, Thank you for sharing your story. Its beautiful. Also it helps everyone else go down that same memory lane. I think your quilt Pieces of the Past is going to be lovely and more valuable to you than winning a lotto. You just can't buy memories or love. Now you can work with a whole pile of "love'.. a treasure to be sure. Makes me wish I had not been so pragmatic in distributing to charity all my families items. I am a get rid of it if you don't use it type person but when I read your post I think.. if only I had.. so I will create this type of memory for my own children and maybe they will experience this sense of wonder and thoughtful retrospect like you are right now. See, your gift is a gift too..

Thank you Darren for taking us with you down memory lane:)
Beautiful memories.
Please post pictures of your blocks, scaps and quilts when you have them made.

Great story! It's amazing how these scents can open up a world of memories of our loved ones. I've had two special aunts who have passed away and "left their scents behind." I used to always love to visit their homes. It was something about being in that home with them. Let's just say I loved the way they smelled. Well, when they passed away there were no children to share their belongings, but many nieces and nephews. When the homes were opened for us, we all selected items that reminded us of them. Even today as I walk into one of our homes, I smell a familiar scent. A few weeks ago I walked into my daughter's living room and told her, "I think Aunt Maude is here." She pointed to one of her items. It still had the scent of her home. So Darren, thanks for the memories.

very nice memory.

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing,I love to hear about memories like this.It brings back memories I cherish also. Maybe more of us can find the time to share our quilty memories. I have 2 quilts from my grandmother. Never saw her work on them, but remember seeing parts of them now and then. She kept them in a closet when not working on them. I am making the memories I hope my grandchildren will cherish. I am teaching two of them to quilt and they are included in my quilt group. One started at 9 years. The second one, not to be out done, started when she was about 4 yrs by helping to pull the needle through on my first hand quilted quilt on a frame. I had to get her started on her own little project. {I have since bought them both a Janome sew mini- they are 13yrs and 9yrs now}Now the youngest, 19 mo, plays with fabric, sits on my lap when I sew, and generally loves to play in my sewing room while I am in there. I am blessed to be home to watch them while Mom and Dad work and school is out. I really miss them when they start school.

Darren, what a lovely story. This is something that you should print out and save for your kids to read someday.
Let me tell you what I've been doing. A few weeks ago at my Sunday school class one of my friend told me she gave her sister in law my name. She was looking for someone to quilt for her. Since I have a machine I do quilting for the public. Once I called her she told me that she had two tops her mother has made for a long time since the woman died 18 years ago. I told her to wash the top and I'd meet her at Hancock we would need to border them to make them bigger. This top was a scrappy block with numerous colors.
I must admit it tuned out very pretty and I know this womans granddaughter will be proud.

Regina

Thanks for sharing your memories, Darren. I learned to sew at my grandmother's knee and I think of her every time at sit down at my machine or pick up needle & thread. She was my rock and I miss her every day.

Darren, thank you so much for sharing. It made me feel good to read it.
Beautiful thoughts.

Oh, how I wish you were my grandson! When my two sons died, I took their shirts and made quilts out of them for my 3 grandchildren (the sons' children). They were all very young when they received them.....9, 3, & 5.....Not much interest in the quilts then or now....when they are 20, 15, & 12. I don't know if they even know where they are. So, to hear someone such as yourself cherish what granny made and the memories is just so awesome to me. I know she is smiling!

:thumbup: sniff sniff! What a beautiful story. That is wonderful both you and your wife like to quilt.

i hope when i'm gone, my grandkids are as joyous and respectful of the leftovers i leave in my studio. your grammy is looking down and smiling, how wonderful to be remembered like that.

Thanks again everyone. I honestly thought most of you would take one look at that huge post and say "Oops! No time for that!" and click back as fast as you could. I thought maybe a few would read it all because they have their own memories. I'm glad to know someone appreciated my thoughts.

I didn't press anything tonight. It will probably be the weekend before I get back in the sewing room, but I'll start by posting pics of some of the fabrics.

Darren

I can relate to your ramblings. My mother recently found a quilt that my grandmother made and she gave it to me. It is my link to my grandmother. 8-)

Wish I could go back to being 50 ! hee hee hee

I don't know if anyone mentioned it, but there is a foundation with the DWR printed on it. You attach the strips and pieces to it. We have it at our LQS. My DSIL has made many double wedding rings with that foundation system, and it will help your older fabric hold together with less stress at the seams. <wave> Plus, for beginners, it makes the process more achievable.

Thanks for sharing your loving memories. I know how much I love and cherish my grandchildren and I hope when I am gone they feel that way about me.

Margie