I am a quilter. I love fabric and like most quilters have quite a stash with many unfinished projects. My mother and grandmother taught me to sew as a young child. By the time I was a teenager I made most of my own clothes. When my children were growing up I made most of their clothes until they got to be teenagers and wanted "labels"! Over the years I made dresses, shorts, pants, pajamas, Halloween costumes, prom dresses and wedding dresses. But always in the back of my mind I wanted to make quilts.
My paternal grandmother made quilts. Most of them were scrap quilts made from old clothing. They were made to be utilitarian but they were beautiful. Every winter my grandfather would set the quilting frame up in the middle of the living room floor and Granny Gude would hand quilt the tops she had sewn together over the summer. It was fun to go to her house because the furniture would be pushed back against the wall and you had to walk sideways around the quilt frame. We children liked to crawl under the fram and play cards or monopoly while she quilted.
Granny Gude had a large family, eight children, thirty-three grandchildren, sixty-five great grandchildren and twenty-six great-great grandchildren when she died at age 98. She was constantly making a quilt for someone. As the grandchildren began their families she made a quilt for the first great-grandchild in each family land stated that "since there was a potential for so many great-grands the quilt would have to be shared with the younger siblings". Our family still treasures the beautiful plaid scrap quilt she made for us. It is a bit tattered today from so much use but it has been well loved. (When I learn to post pictures, maybe I'll post a picture of it!)
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