7.22.2012

Irish Chain Quilt


I think I've shared before but I can't remember, I was born on my great-grandma Ella's birthday. She was a very avid quilter. She made the most beautiful quilts and made a ton of them. When I was younger I loved going to grandma Ella's house. She always had treats (yum) and quilts! I still remember the quilt that she had laying over the back of her couch. I was about six years old when she passed away. Her daughter, my grandma suffered from sever Rheumatoid Arthritis. She was never able to be much of a quilter/sewer because of the Arthritis but I know that she loved quilts. When I was a teenager my grandma LaRae passed away. When she died and everyone was going through the house I remember all I wanted was a big trunk full of old quilt tops, pieced by my great-grandma Ella and her mother as well, and that's what I got. I have yet to do anything with those quilt tops, but, some day I will and I will cherish them forever!

My grandma has two sisters, who actually live close to me. They are both fabulous sewers and love to piece quilts just as my great-grandma Ella (their mother) did.  This beautiful quilt below is a quilt that I recently machine quilted for my my great-aunt Kathryn. She re-created one of my great-grandma Ella's quilts. Some day she will give it to one of her granddaughters as a wedding gift, just like what great-grandma Ella would do. 

When Kathryn brought me the quilt she asked that I machine quilt it similar to how grandma Ella would quilt. I was and am truly honored to be able to quilt this special quilt like grandma Ella. Since her quilts were all hand quilted the quilting is very simple, grandma Ella would quilt a fun little motif in the center of the solid blocks, so I machine quilted a similar pattern. I just love the simplicity of the finished quilt.
I did add a little bit of extra detail to the borders, I know it's more than grandma Ella would have done but I really think it looks nice with the quilt.

Are you like me, a third or fourth or fifth generation quilter?

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18 comments:

  1. The quilt is lovely. I would love to see the quilt tops that Gma Ella made, from your treasure chest. I'll bet you felt her with you while you quilted the Irish Chain. My grandmother made wool quilts from my grandfather's suits. They had a doubled heavy cotton batting, and were tied with red yarn. I own one of them, it was discovered *years* after she died; we estimate it to be 70, 75 years old. It was stored and forgotten in the house she lived in. I have made several wool quilts with thrifted wool garments, I put a photo of Grandma Anastacia on the labels of those quilts: a sepia toned portrait taken at her high school graduation. This is what quilts do: they connect us to our families and to history.

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  2. Wonderful looking quilt, your Great-Aunt did a beautiful job! I love the way you quilted it, the flower motif in the solid squares look gorgeous and of course who doesn't love the borders with the swirls and feathers, right? :))) Thank you for sharing both the quilt and the touching story!

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  3. Oh, and to answer your question... My Mom went to sewing/tayloring high school, but I don't know about anybody in my family who quilted. Patchwork is just getting popular in my country, a lot of people don't even know what is it.

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  4. Thanks for sharing both the story and the quilt. I loved it all - and your quilt design is perfect.

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  5. That quilt is gorgeous! And the quilting is perfect!

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  6. So very special. What an amazing quilt and an amazing tribute to your Grandma Ella!!

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  7. You do beautiful quilting. My Great Grandmother quilted, my Grandmother sewed but my Mother never touched a machine or a needle so I don't know what generation I would be. I love seeing how you quilt things even though it makes me see how far I have not come with my quilting-lol. I've never had blog comments that say "your quilting is perfect" and almost all of your comments say that! So good job! You are an inspiration!

    Cheery wave from
    Bev
    http://44thstreetfabric.blogspot.com

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  8. Wow, ist der Klasse und so schön gequiltet.
    Super!!! Super!!!
    Liebe Grüße Grit

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  9. It's so pretty. It made me smile!

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  10. Gorgeous quilt and beautiful quilting.

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  11. What a gorgeous quilt! The quilting really adds to it. Such a great thing to share with your family =D

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  12. What a beautiful quilt! Scrappy and yet not. I have to bookmark this one for inspiration!
    I love the way you quilted it.

    That is really neat to have some quilt tops from your family.

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  13. Your Great-Aunt's Grandaughter will love this quilt someday.You did a beautiful job quilting it. What is the name of this Irish chain.

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  14. Both of my grandmothers quilted and I also had an Aunt that quilted. I was not interested in quilting before they passed, boys will do that to a young girl, so I didn't have the pleasure to learn from them. I do have a Sunbonnet Sue top my aunt pieced by hand. I'm scared to quilt it. I love your quilting on your Great Aunt's quilt, simple but beautiful.

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  15. What a beautiful quilt! You did a FANTASTIC job of quilting it!!!!

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  16. Great story & quilting!! I will be a first generation quilter/sewer. But, I am already passing it on to my 2 young granddaughters.

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