I have been quilting since 1999 and have decided to keep an online journal of my quilts. In this way, I can document their history and preserve their memory for my family and future generations. Most of my quilts are made as gifts; and with few exceptions, I have taken pictures of my quilts with their recipient. I have also made many charity quilts for Project Linus, Wrapped in Hope and Quilts for Kids.

Please join me for my quilt parade!

Monday, May 24, 2010

My Quilt #3 ~ Emily’s Quilt 1999

Emily’s Quilt 1999
 
This is my third quilt, and it was the first quilt I ever made on my own …

It was 1999; and after completing my second quilt, I was very motivated to make another quilt. As I browsed through my many quilting magazines, I found a quilt that caught my eye (pic of the original quilt pattern below). Not ever having made a quilt on my own, I was quite intimidated but decided to give it a try anyway. Since I didn’t want to spend money on something I might “mess up”, I used fabric I’d had around for a long time.

Original Pattern from McCall's Quilting 1999

The quilt has thirty “Shoo Fly” blocks and, at the time, was somewhat of a challenge. The quilt has yellow sashing with red setting squares and measures 54 ½ by 61. The border and the backing are the same fabric, which has white daisies on a red background, so the quilt has a lot of red in it. It was machine quilted in-the-ditch by me.


A day or two after finally finishing the quilt, my 2-year-old granddaughter, Emily, was asleep on the sofa. Thinking of my newly-finished quilt, I covered her with it. The next morning – to my surprise – when she saw the quilt, Emily happily showed the quilt to her mother and told her “Look, Mama! Grandma gave this to me!” I never got my quilt back, and Emily slept with her quilt every night!


Well, that was eleven years ago.  Today my DGD Emily is 13 years old and is growing into a beautiful young woman.  She no longer sleeps with her red quilt; it has been loved so much that her mom has put it away for now.  Of course, she has other quilts her mom and I have made her, but this red quilt will always be special.


I love you, Emily!  Always, Grandma


2 comments:

Lily Mulholland said...

What a beautiful quilt, story and granddaughter!

Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage said...

What a heart-warming story! That quilt will always be special to Emily. And how wonderful that you documented it here.

I made a very special Christmas stocking for my first (and, so far, only) grandchild. You can see it documented on my blog here:
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/2010/02/fourteen-days-of-love-day-6-ohyoure-so.html


Blessings,
Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/