The tale of the Star Quilt

Way back in the August 2000 I went to visit my Aunt Win and presented her with a quilt I had just finished.  My Aunt had recently sold her home and had moved in to a rest home.  Her room decor was rather bland but was carpeted in a pretty shade of blue.  Checking my stash, I found a length of Indian striped cotton in blues and burgundy.  That would be just right, I thought to myself.  As I love stars, it was an easy choice of pattern, and I added a pieced border of half square triangles to finish the quilt off.  Aunt Win’s quilt was backed with a soft pale blue floral winceyette (flannel) for extra warmth, and I machine quilted it with simple straight line quilting. 

Star quilt for Aunt Win

My Aunt was rather excited to get such a large parcel and eagerly ripped open the paper to see what was inside.  “Oh”, she said, “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever made me”.  I laid the quilt over her bed and it really made a difference to the look of her bedroom.

Aunt Win with her quilt

Fast forward to late 2011 and I received a telephone call from my cousin.  She told me that our Aunt  had to change rest homes as she needed more care and couldn’t take the quilt with her.  Would I come and collect it please?   The quilt was handed over to me and I remarked that it didn’t seem to have been used much.  It appeared that the quilt spent most of it’s life folded up and placed in a drawer.  Oh dear, now what was I going to do with it?  We were travelling north on the way to see my sister and her family and I took the quilt inside with me and related what had happened.  My great niece, 12 year old Kate, saw the folded quilt.  “Is that for me?’, she asked, “I just love it!”   It looked very much like the quilt has found a new home.

Kate and her new quilt

Kate and I did a deal.  I took the quilt back home with me for laundering – after all that time hidden away in a drawer the quilt could do with a bit of freshening up.  I also added a new quilt label on the back, leaving the original label in place to show the family history.  The new label reads: “This quilt is gifted to Kate from her Great Aunt Jenny and her Great-great Aunt Win”.    Then I carefully wrapped the quilt and posted it back up to Kate.  I’m so pleased that the quilt not only has a new appreciative owner, but also stays in the family.  What a great outcome.

Happy Independence Day

We were away at a caravan rally over the weekend, and since today is the 4th July, we had a special Independence Day quiz to complete. Now, as a Kiwi, I’m no expert on this subject, but I certainly knew the answers to these two questions.

Q: Who sewed the first American Flag? I know that, Betsy Ross of course.

Q: How many stars and stripes on the first American Flag? The answer of course is 13 stars and 13 stripes.

In June 1776, brave Betsy was a widow struggling to run her own upholstery business. Upholsterers in colonial America not only worked on furniture but did all manner of sewing work, which for some included making flags. According to Betsy, General Washington showed her a rough design of the flag that included a six-pointed star. Betsy, a standout with the scissors, demonstrated how to cut a five-pointed star in a single snip. Impressed, the committee entrusted Betsy with making the first flag.

Happy Independence Day to all those who celebrate this special day.

Angels and Stars

There’s something inspiring about going to a quilt show, isn’t there. After viewing all those lovely quilts hanging outside in the sunshine on Sunday, I just had to come home and get stitching. But what to do? I’m one of those quilters who work on lots of different projects at the same time. I know, I’ll work on my Angel quilt .

Angel blocks and sashing all ready to be put together

I had hand stitched all the angel blocks over quite a period of time, and had already cut them to size. After cutting the sashing strips, I set to and assembled the quilt top. Measuring, cutting, sewing, pressing, you know the drill. Next step was to cut the border strips and fuse on the stars. Now that’s all done, I can take the borders away on our holiday and hand appliqué them down. My elder grand-daughter doesn’t know it yet, but this quilt is destined for when she settles down and has a baby girl. Don’t think I’ll tell her yet, she’ll just roll her eyes at me and say “Oh Nana!!”

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