A question was asked on the “Road to California” Facebook page; “How long have you been quilting?”. I will always remember the first quilt I made. It was a crazy quilt made from scraps of cotton, wool, velvet, whatever I could get my hands on. I wanted something I could take out to our little playhouse in the woods and not worry about getting dirty because it was “all mine”. I was 9 years old. The scary part was when I answered the question, I realized that it was 56 years ago!
Sadly, this is the only photo I have of her (on the far right).
She is sitting next to the Dodge sisters who lived on our road as well. Their claim to fame was that they ran the smallest Post Office in the country out of their chicken coop. I had a wonderful childhood!
Reading the wonderful posts of Michele McLaughlin (Pennsylvania Piecemaker) I realized there must have been hundreds of quilters in the past who inspired young people to make and enjoy quilts. Michele continues to post very informative and most enjoyable articles on quilts and quiltmakers. Do visit her bog (here).
My first quilt was also a crazy quilt, and it was inspired by Judith Montano's book on the subject, which I came across in the library. I now have my own copy and want to do another crazy quilt someday.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother made quilts and I loved sleeping under them. She was gone by the time I took up quilt making though. My mom (not a quilter) taught me to sew but my grandmother inspired the quilt making. I love your photo :0)
ReplyDeleteMy Mom inspired me to quilt. She taught us how to make nine-patch blocks when we were kids. After graduating from college, I took a basic quilting class at a local shop. I have been obsessed with quilting ever since.
ReplyDeleteMy mother taught me how to sew and when it was time for my sister and I to put a trousseau (remember those?) together she quilted 4 whole cloth quilts and never made another one. My mother-in-law was a true quilter from childhood on, even when quilting wasn't that popular. She inspired me to give quilting a try. My first real quilt was a Christmas quilt with appliques done in satin stitch in 1992. I entered into the amateur category at the county fair and won a blue ribbon. That was a great motivator.
ReplyDeleteI could almost copy Janet's comment! My grandmother was a quilter and I remember my siblings and I fighting over which of her quilts we got to sleep with when we went to her house. Oh how I loved her soft, cozy quilts. I don't know that I really had a mentor as we sort of learned quilting together, but my mom was super supportive and encouraging in growing, learning and stretching ourselves in all ways quilting. Some times I think about how valuable that was just in constantly pushing me to be willing to step outside my comfort zone and take risks!
ReplyDeleteDitto to Janet and Audrey's comment - my grandmother! She always had some "piecing" in her hands -- all by hand, never by machine. I'm sure she purchased fabric but I never saw it! To this day, my cousins and I can still identify scraps of clothes we (and our mothers) made scattered throughout Grandma's quilt tops. She loved the piecing but not the quilting -- many years ago when Grandma passed my mother and her siblings found a trunk in the attic filled with 30+ "quilt tops" just waiting for us to quilt and share....
ReplyDeleteNo quilters in my family, sad to say, but I hope I have been a mentor to others. I love hearing others stories and yours is very sweet. What a wonderful photo of these ladies. A post office in the chicken coop, love that!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had a story as good as yours, but, even though I sewed most of my own clothes as a teenager, I didn't make my first quilt until I was 45. I'd been cross stitching and when I bought my cross stitching magazines I was drawn to the beautiful quilts on the covers of the quilting magazines and finally gave in and decided to give it a try. A colleague at work who quilted helped get me started and I was self taught after that. I had no idea what I was getting into!! :)
ReplyDeleteI wasn't fortunate enough to have had inspiration from mom or my grandmothers and to my knowledge I'm still the only quilter in my family. The first antique quilts I ever saw were in the bedrooms of my sister and brothers in law who were all in their teens when my first husband and I were married. I'm quite sure they all dated around 1900 or earlier, made by his great or great-great grandmothers. All except one were in terribly worn out condition but had an almost magical patina and softness in my mind. I knew then and there that I would someday make quilts, the first one was a crazy quilt made of my leftover 1960s dressmaking fabrics, loose weave, poly double knits and all, complete with "quilting" using floss and embroidery stitches and an old thermal blanket for batting. My son used it for years and was so disappointed when I could no longer patch that monstrosity and made him another quilt when he graduated high school. He still has that second quilt some 25+ years later.
ReplyDeleteAs a teenager, I was visiting a friend of my mother. She had a large frame that took up an entire room in her house. She was tieing a quilt with gingham scottie dogs on it. I fell in love and she taught me how to make it. That was the beginning for me.
ReplyDeleteI loved your story and wow on having a photograph of Arzetta (cool name too)! Thanks for the compliment as well! I love that you shared your journey with us!!! Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet childhood memory! My maternal Great Grandmother was my chief inspiration. My mom always put her quilts on our beds for special occasions. Also my local quilt guild. My first view of a 'show and tell' blew me away. I've been making quilts ever since! take care!
ReplyDeleteOh Wendy! What lovely memories. Thank you for sharing that.
ReplyDeleteI love this. It gives me chills! For me, it was my Grandma. You've inspired me to post about her sometime sooner rather than later - I haven't done that in a long time. xoxo
ReplyDeleteThat is so wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely story and tribute, Wendy. My Mom was the one who inspired me to become a quilter, although when she first taught me to hand quilt (before I ever learned to piece) at age 12, I swore I would never become a quilter. A year or two later when I had painted a set of quilt blocks with Artex tube paints in 4-H, Mom helped me piece the top together and hand quilt it. I still have that quilt. I was in high school when I pieced another set of painted blocks into a quilt top for my sister, who was getting married. Mom was beside me helping. It was several years later that she helped me quilt a whole clothe quilt with a logo of the singing group to which my boyfriend belonged. Everyone thought I would marry him, but I didn't. As a mom of young kids, Mom helped me tie simple patchwork quilts for their beds, and shared with me all she had gleaned from books and magazines, as a self-taught quilter. Then hubby's aunt, a master quilter, took me under her wing and taught me things Mom had never known, and I was able to teach Mom a few things. I have had two outstanding quilting mentors.
ReplyDeleteLovely history. I can just imagine your eyes as you saw the fabrics. I really love this post.
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful story of how you became a quilter.
ReplyDeleteGreat old photo and wee - I love that story of the chicken coop PO! I love snail mail and stamps and all things mail but I'm so sad at the loss of service :(
I'm so grateful you are a quilter and that we are quilting buddies.
xo
My original comment as lost because I wasn't signed in to google. Here's a similar comment.
ReplyDeleteHow I wish you would post a photo of your first quilt, if you still have it, Wendy. I'm sure it is delightful. It's wonderful how the older neighbor ladies used to take the children under their wings and teach them, isn't it. What a treasure that you have that memory and also the photo. From little acorns... and look at the quilter you've become!
I began quilting because of a need--the Christmas gift of a lap quilt for my grandfather in a nursing home, a quilt for our bed that same year when we were first married, and 20+ years later for a humanitarian aid service project.
I learned a few years ago that my grandmother was a quilter but she did not quilt during my lifetime. I've learned from books and bloggers like you.
I wanted to tell you that I have another blogging friend who writes about New England heritage. She just published a post about the Quilt Museum where your quilts are being shown and included two photos of one (and maybe more) of your quilts. Coincidentally, her name is Barbara Poole. You can read her post here if you're interested: http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2019/05/quilt-museum.html.