Sewnoma

Isn't it funny how times change? My mom grew up in handmade clothes and didn't get anything store-bought until she was a teenager. She used to get made fun of for being poor and having to wear clothes made at home and was so proud of her first pair of Levi brand jeans. Nowadays, people are sick of mass-produced everything and are craving things that are unique and different - I think a high schooler that had a completely hand-made custom wardrobe would be envied! Even my niece, who is 9 now, has been overheard saying things like "Mine is the best because it was MADE 'specially for ME!"

adamae

Loved your stories...Pictures in my mind of your grandmother. Sweet!

KARENBOUTQUILTIN

My mother use to make the warmest quilts for our beds and give all of her grandchildren one or two also. She would make them out of bonded knit and tie them. She taught me how to make a 9 patch when I was around 16. I don't know if my grandma taught her. Anyway, I do them very different now, but I give my mom all of the credit for getting me interested. She lived to be almost 92, and I still have one of her quilts. It is put away to cherish.

adamae

We had one daughter and two sons. Our daughter can do many things very well but sewing and quilting are not among her accomplishments. My lone grand daughter, Anna, likes to sew and quilt. She has recently bought an embroidery machine. Young mothers are finding pleasure in monogramming their baby linens and clothes. I find it enchanting. Anna's friends ooh and aaah about quilts but few are quilters. I learned to quilt at my mother's knee. There were five girls and one boy who she sewed for. I began to sew my own dresses when I became unhappy with her fashion sense. You know Mom must have had at least one fabric scrap barrel. I remember two.

MCH

I have a quilt that my husband's Grandmother made. It's a heavy, gorgeous "scrappy", but yet very orderly in its design. (She was German and English; no further explanation necessary). The backing seems to be muslin flour sacks.

My husband remembers using the quilt to make a tent when he and his cousins visited Grandma. Since the quilt was at his Mother's house and his sister had less than no interest in it, Mother told me to take it home.

I have a picture of my younger son @ 6 months (he's now 41), lying on his back on it with his feet in the air and a big grin on his face.

A couple of years ago, I took a picture of him, his wife and their son sitting on it. Last February, their second son was born. They will all be at the house on Friday...and one thing I need to remember to do is to take a picture of the four of them on the quilt. I must get it out of the closet and put it on the bed as a reminder...

At some point, the quilt and the pictures will probably be my son's.

As for quilters in the family, it was my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my aunt who sewed / quilted. My Mother sewed, but I don't remember he doing as much as the others. I sat next to my great-grandmother's treadle sewing machine as she made scrappy quilt tops from scraps that my grandmother brought home from the dress factory where she worked. I would use the scraps to make very rudimentary dresses ( fold the fabric in quarters, cut an opening for the head and one for the arms) that I would use for my dolls.

Later, at age 10, I joined a 4-H club where I learned to make garments for myself. I sewed all through high school and college. When my boys were small, I made clothes for them...continuing to make clothes for myself. I even taught dressmaking for awhile.

I read about quilting, but I never really took any action.

When our family made a major move to the west coast, I enrolled in a quilting class. Finally!!
This was the class where I learned to use templates and to hand piece (I still prefer that method). I was hooked and here I am today...with a stash that would rival any small LQS.

...and that's my story. I have only one DIL...she loves to sew and is quite creative, but she's 99% occupied with a 3 yr. old anda 10 month-old. But, one of these days she will get to her quilting, I'm sure.

Friday1961

Yes, my mother was one of 7 girls and all their clothes were sewn by their mother from flour sacks (imagine sewing for SEVEN girls, two of whom were twins! my mother said my grandmother often commented that she enjoyed making the first twin's dress, but hated making the second one just like it). And while my mother may have felt the stigma of homemade clothes, she loved the quilts her mother made.

But in my comment I should have said "some women" instead of "many women". I was judging by my own paternal grandmother, who I suspect may have felt that way, but I have no way of knowing how other women of that era felt.

madamekelly

I come from a very long line of women who made a living from sewing, my mom had her own "human Barbie", a lady she sewed for until her passing. I am the first to have the time, temperament, and want for quilting and the only sewer in my generation but a do have a dear niece who sews for dolls so it continues.....

Weenween

I am the 4th in my generation and my daughter made a few tops so it continues onto the 5 I am very happy also, when I leave this ol'e world she know how to make quilts and stay warm. Every one should at least try anyhow. I also think everyone should learn to drive a standard shift car before getting license. I do not think you should have to take your drivers test in a standard but just learn to drive one just incase someday you might need to. You will never know.

quiltingshorttimer

I love it! Both my kids (late 20's/early 30's) can drive a stick and are rare among their friends and spouses! My DH insists on a stick (although agree to automatic on truck since I drive too and knees don't like a standard anymore) but it's hard to even find one on a new car. Its been to my son's advantage as a mechanic as some of the other mechanics don't know how to drive a stick--they also both drive a tractor, can pull a trailer (although not good at backing on daughter's part) and can change a tire and oil on car(since late elementary school)! My DIL felt such a sense of accomplishment this fall when she helped replace flooring on the horse trailer and helped re-wire--too bad more young people aren't taught skills that make then know they are capable of tackling the world!

letawellman

I am really enjoying all the comments from everyone on this topic!!
The quilters in my family are rather "sporadic". On my mother's side of the family, they all lived in/near the "big city", and while their homes were spotless, and their cooking was outstanding, none of them did any type of sewing or quilting. On my father's side of the family, my grandmother was a fantastic sewist and cook, and her sister was also a terrific sewist, and also did many other crafts - crocheting, knitting, basket-making and so on. But, no quilting. However, their mother (my great-grandmother) was ALWAYS in one stage or another of quilting. I can remember having several of her quilts in my home as I was growing up. My sister STILL has the "pieces and fragments" of a baby quilt that Mammy gave her (and my sis is 45 now). My grandfather's grandmother (my great-great-grandmother) was also a quilter, and I have a quilt that she made as one of my most-prized possessions. I had a professional appraiser look at it (he actually had to call Barbara Brackman to help identify the pattern!). I can remember sitting at my grandmother's feet next to her treadle Singer, hand-piecing the scraps she had from making my clothes - I think I was about 5 or 6 - so the quilt bug bit me at a very young age!!
As far as "passing it down", when my kids were little, they both "helped" make the quilts, by picking out colors and patterns, and when I had the hand-quilting frame out, they (and many of their little friends) helped put stitches in it. Will either of them continue with this craft? Perhaps. I gave my daughter my old sewing machine, and she does some sewing on it (pillows, other small crafts), so maybe when her new baby is a little older, she will revisit quilting. I do know that both of them have a high appreciation for the art of quilting.