I have a beautiful Sunbonnet Sue quilt top that my great grandmother made that I would love to finish. Now, my Mom is not the superstitious sort, but since Great Grandma died while working on it, she feels funny about allowing it to be completed. What are your thoughts, suggestions, etc. TIA!

I bet your Grandmother would want it to be finished and pleased that her Granddaughter finished it.

Finish it...your grandmother will smile down on you for doing it!

I would finish it and gve it to mum.

Welcome from Illinois! Your GG would probably love for her work to be finished and it will give you great joy to have a piece that the two of you made!

She died doing what she loved, yes? The key to life is being able to complete our life's work, happily. And knowing that what we put our hand to was appreciatd. Those qualities and attributes probably made the tempo of your Great Grandmother's life. Do you have any old letters or diaries that would back up the notion that she would want her SBS to be completed? You could start the "conversation" by framing one Sue, making an exquisite wall decoration piece, and win favor from your other relatives... let the persuasion begin!

personally I really am not superstitious and would finish the quilt in honor of my GGM and be proud of the heritage it comes from.
Peace

PS: just a thought. What if no one finished anything that a deceased person handled. Nothing would ever be acomplished in this world. I have lots of my mothers counted crossstitch hanging on my walls. It wouldn't be there if I haden't taken up the work of my mother and completed them. Her memory is always with me and that is a good thing.
peace again

If there are no green fumes billowing from the seams, or acid dripping from the stitches I think you might be safe to finish the quilt. However should you start hearing someone tell you to get out of the house I'd reconsider.

Yes finish it, you will be glad you did!

Who has the quilt? How worried will your mother be is you start working on it? IF she will be very worried is it worth it? Was this a very special quilt to your grandmother or just the latest one that she happened to be making? I think your priorities lie with your living mother not your dead grandmother. Think about it.

Ditto...finish the quilt

Sorry Tanya but if we only ever did what our mothers wanted, just think of where you would be right now. as we become adults our priorities lie within ourselves not our mothers wishes. We do what makes us happy. Would you only marry a person your mother wanted or the person you love?

Finish it!

Dear UBE Quilting, the question was - from another quilter- what would her dead grandmother have wanted as compared to what her living mother was afraid of. We all make decisions on our own priorities. Perhaps some of our priorities are to honor our living mothers at least some of the time.

You are absolutely right. I plan to finish it someday, but for now, I have enough to do.

I never had the privledge of meeting her, but it still means alot to me to have a family heirloom. It also tells me that I have a heritage of quilting in my family and I'd better get busy if I want to pass that heritage to future generations.
:D

Thanks for the welcome, OMQ! Yes, it would mean alot to me. I'm hoping that my DDs will put in a few stitches, too, making it a multigenerational quilt.

What a great idea, framing a square. I wonder if mom would be OK with that? Thanks for the encouragement.

LOL.
:D

I would finish it. I'm not sure finishing your Great Grandmother's quilt would be dishonoring your Mother, sounds wierd to me. Your Mother has superstitions, doesn't mean you have to have them.

Mom has the quilt, and I don't know where she has stored it. I think for now I will respect her wishes and plan to finish it someday.

Finishing it would be a great way to honor your grandmother, and giving it to your mother, where i'm sure it would have ended up, would be wonderful for your mother!

Bingo! If to finish the quilt would cause your mother unnecessary distress, then leave it alone until it can no longer cause her distress.
Imagine this. You take the quilt top, and as you complete it something bad happens....maybe not fatal, but something bad. You KNOW what your mother is going to say, and not only that, she's going to feel guilty for "allowing it to happen".

You can't fight superstition.

Is there some way to include your mother in the process? You would have quilt with the memories of three generations.

if it were me i would want you to finish it.

i hate having UFOs and i would never rest in peace knowing it wasn't completed.

We would love to see a picture of your grandmother's quilt so far.

I say finish it.

Haha :thumbup:

Get you yearly check up and get busy! Take Mom when you get the check up.

Finish it. I am sure she will be guiding you all the way. ;-)

This is a hard one to answer. Personally I think it should be finished. First you need to ask yourself. How will this project effect my relationship with my family? And also is it worth it? If you say yes go for it. If you say no I wouldn't then. It's up to you.

I would definately take her feelings into consideration...but all the while, maybe she her how you intend to finish it, and the materials, etc...kind of see if you can motivate her that way, and ask her wouldn't she like to see it finished? Maybe she would like it when it's done?

I would finish the quilt. Bless her heart! She must have loved it or would not have used the energy to work on it.

We have a crocheted doily begun by my great great grandmother that was to be hexagons attached to a center hexagon. It's missing two hex's but it is a treasured heirloom to my family. Of course, we can't use it the way it is. If we kept that, imagine how nice it would have been to have something completed that we could display. FINISH it! You have the skill and your great grand would have finished it if she'd been able.

I think it would be great to have a quilt that my grand mother started and it would kind of be like you two did it together. I'm a grandmother and would love it if after I passed my baby girl would finish one of my quilts. What an honor.

If she died while working on it, she was doing something she was happy doing. She obviously wanted it completed. I'm sure she would be glad for you to do it and think of it in a positive way, not negative. She was making it with love so finish it the same way.

I am finishing my Grandmothers SBS that she started in the late 1920's and my DD and DGS wife are helping me....there was bad feeling associated with this quilt back in the 30's because evidently my grandmother insisted that each of her daughters do two blocks.....i remember as a child my aunt calling the quilt top "that d---- thing" but it is a joy now, and maybe it will welcome to the world my greatgrandaughter some day in the future.

the top was completed, sashings, borders, etc. in the 1930's and DD found a print that goes with it for the binding. The backing will be cream kona and i will quilt it the way it is marked on several of the blocks (lots of luck that the marking will ever come out)

I agree.

I'd think that it would be a "legacy" piece. It would be a real connection to your grandmother, part of her spirit is in it since she selected the piece as well as the colors.

I disagree with your Mom....what a lovely tribute to your great grandma...finish the quilt.