Memory Quilt #3 Top Completed

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts.

My goal for November was to complete the top for my memory quilt #3 of my mother, destined for one of my nieces. 

I am pleased to say this is done and now I will need to sandwich and quilt it. 

Wedding ring block with photos this time. First time trying this. Hoping it will wash well!

Every day there was washing! A fire to be lit to heat the water. Then a washing machine with a wringer where the clothes had to be put through into a tub of cold water and then wrung again!

All the great grandchildren so far and one little heart for the first great great grand child.

 

 

Memory Quilt Completed

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts.

In May among other things I completed my second quilt celebrating the memory of my mother. This one is intended for my sister Pauline. My goal was to quilt it and perhaps bind it. All done and washed and aired as well.

Wedding ring with dates of marriage in centre

Christmas and her brothers and sisters

Children

Pauline – and our ancestors quilted around the edge to 1840’s

Granchildren

Great Grandchildren

Heart of the home

Washing. Cooking. Sewing Knitting.

Brandy love of looking nice, helping hand to others and good fiscal management.

My mother was of Irish and German heritage. I have a symbol of that as well on the quilt but not in these photos. Around the edge of the quilt are all the names of the German ancestors of her mother’s side. They came to New Zealand in the 1840’s. The Irish side was her Dad, from Irish parents in Australia who migrated their from Ireland.  I chose the female side to put around the edge.

March Finish

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts.

My goal was to finish a quilt top and get it altogether. Which I have done, and of course gone on to work towards other things as well. This is the second quilt I have put together in memory of my mother.

The weather is awful outside so here is one of it on the couch inside.

Hope everyone is keeping safe at home. My country is in lock down with only essential services running.

 

Weekly To-Do List

It’s time I got a little bit more active here so I have decided to mostly join up with Home Sewn’s Tuesday Linky.

• In the last week I worked on a few things. My one month goal top got a little work on it, As I make the diamonds on the quilt it also gives me some small 2″ half square triangles which I am boxing away among other half square triangles for a scrappy quilt sometime.
• I am sewing a leaders and enders scrappy crossroads quilt and I made some of the squares up into a couple of blocks.
• I was working on a block for a second memory quilt of my mother. Paper piecing went a little awry for some reason but just decided to keep the flaw!
• My one that I am going to share is the first  two blocks in a quilt along that Lori Holt ran last year on her blog that I am doing this year because her posts are so interesting and well I also love vintage. She called tthe one on the left Grandma’s Star because of her grandmas – it is what is also called Bethlehem Star. It finishes at 12″ when sewn into the quilt. As well the second one she called Pattern Basket.

  

  

  
  

To Do Tuesday 14th January.

• Join up the blocks and rows on my Ombre Carnival Quilt.
• Make some more vintage blocks.
• Continue on with the Scrappy Crossroads leaders and enders blocks.
• Continue to work on the memory quilt block.

Marching On

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the March quilt goal.

I had a big quilting month last month working on the Sunshine Garden quilt, which I am now hand sewing down the binding on.

So something reasonably quiet for March! I have done enough quilting to last me for awhile – so just some piecing would be nice this month.

So I am going to pick up the second memory quilt I am making celebrating my mother’s life.  I have four and half blocks finished.

So goal for March

•  complete left side of above block
• complete two to three more blocks.

This was the first memory quilt that I completed so this one will be similar but will make a few changes.

Patchwork and Quilting – Always

There have been a few things finished and others started. I always seem to have a number of things on the go, so that I can pick up what I choose according to the way I feel.

I’ve been keeping up with the Splendid sampler 2 blocks, I still have to do the last one which is embroidery so I’ll catch up with that at some point.

I finished the first memory quilt about my mother. This was a kind of trial one before I put together one with a more streamlined fabric. However when finished I thought it was okay enough and gave it to my youngest sister – thirteen years younger. I am the oldest and she is the youngest. In many ways we had different experiences of my mother but still shared the love!

Here it is hanging on the line just after I washed it and it was nearly dry. I backed it with a minky kind of fabric so will make a cosy lap quilt I hope! So blocks I haven’t talked about:

• the house with the heart – because she was an excellent homemaker and welcomed all to her home with love. My parents in later years always watched the birds and were delighted when they built their nests in the eaves and trees and they watched them hatch and fly away!
• the houses stand for her neighbours, plus the friendship block for friends and the hand with the heart because she reached out to all those in need around her.

I have started the next one, I am making the center of the wedding ring blocks a little different at least for one!

 

I have also started making blocks for this Scrappy Crossroads Quilt that I found on Lori Holt’s blog.  I love that it uses up scraps of 2 1/2″ squares. I love seeing all that fabric used up. The pink fabric I had to buy but it was very inexpensive.

I finished off this small scrappy quilt for a child using left over fabric from another quilt. Will donate it when I find out where to do that. It’s backed with pink minky so I guess for a girl!

And this was my finish for September one month goal. I have found a small hole in a square which I am going to have to deal with, either quilting over it, hand sewing over it or doing a small bit of embroidery! Not sure which yet. I was so annoyed when I saw it.

Not sure what I will do with it, maybe another donation quilt. I always feel a little odd about giving quilts. I am not sure if a person wants it or not! I was listening to Leah Day’s podcast and she said she is never there when the person gets it, because of the possible response. As quilter’s we’ve put our hearts and souls into it, but not everyone understands that.  I adore quilts, but I can’t have a house full of them!

Memory Quilt Continues

This block is a purse – pattern used from the Splendid Sampler and added on to. It symbolises excellent budgeting skills on the part of my mother. She managed money well.

My mother was a royal “fan” and had great interest in the Queen and many of the royals. So one of my sisters who is also a big royal fan suggested a “royal” block. So I did a shadow type head of the Queen within a crown quilt block – thanks to the Missouri Quilt tutorial.

My mother always dressed nicely and would always make sure she used lipstick etc. Her granddaughter Amanda said we should have a block that had pearls to show just what a lady she was. So I had a go at this block, I don’t like the layout that I did so with the next quilt I’ll do it differently but use the same elements. The Splendid sampler 1 again helped me out with this block!

My mother had fifteen grandchildren so I enlarged this heart from the Splendid Sampler 1 and embroidered in each of their names.

Once she had brought up her ten children my mother liked to travel. She and Dad travelled all around the South Island with my brother and his wife. But as well she loved flying and enjoyed going to Sydney and Melbourne in Australia. As a number of our family hate flying they did not pick up her delight in flying.

In later years my mother and father always enjoyed a quiet brandy and ginger ale at the end of the day. So one of my brothers or his wife (not sure which ( they share a Facebook identity!) suggested brandy and glasses.

I have put the blocks all together now and am in the process of quilting it. I will then think about the changes I want to make and make the next one! I did do a large wedding ring block to put in it but for the next one I’ll chat to some of my sisters and see if one ring would be better.

I got the Sunbonnet Sue hat on the left a bit strange on this one but in the end I let it be. Next time! One of my sisters wanted an acknowledgement of my parents link to faith and church in her life so see a little cross and church there!!

 

 

 

Bottling, Sewing, Knitting and Making Sauce

My next block in my mother’s memory quilt depicts some of the things she worked well at, bottling peaches and pears for the winter, she did that especially in the ’50’s, ’60’s and maybe the ’70’s. My Dad grew tomatoes and in later years, probably the ’80’s onwards she made tomato sauce every year. If we didn’t live at home we often received the gift of one each season.

She sewed all out clothes when we were growing up, those were the days when the shops didn’t have oodles of clothing. I loved what she made me. I remember overalls and zip up pant suits she made me when I was young, and a gorgeous red coat and hat she made me when I was about ten.

She always had some knitting on the go too, we all learned to knit as well, and we too would have knitting on the go as well. As we grew up for some of the younger ones she went to the local school they were attending and taught knitting to some of the young students – ages about 7 to 8 yrs!