Throwback Thursday ~ Mom's Embroidered UFO Quilt

How many of you remember the Cross Stitch Quilt Block kits from way back in the day?  Did you make one?  Or did you start one and never finish it like me?  Mine is stored away somewhere deep within the sewing room, I think.  I might have tossed it or given it away.  If its here I haven't seen it in years.  This one was made by my mom.  She finished the embroidery way back in the 80's but never got around to piecing the blocks or quilting.  In 2013 she asked me to finish piecing and quilting it for her.

Mom was not a quilter but she had made a couple quilt panel quilts. The quilting bug never bitten her like it has me.  She was more of a seamstress, crochet fanatic and she loved to embroidery.   Before she passed I finished a few of her UFO's because she lost interest long before her battle with cancer.  I had only been frame quilter for about 2 yrs when I took on this project.  To be honest I was scared.  What if I ruined her beautiful handwork?  So I took my time and it came out beautiful.  My thought was to keep the quilting fairly light and simple because non quilters typically don't care for my quilt it death style.  We were both very pleased with the finish, that is until it was washed. The instructions to finish the quilt called for a larger seam allowance that was preprinted on the blocks.  Mom had assured me the preprinted lines would wash out so if I wanted to use the standard quarter inch seam it would be fine.  They did not!  The lines didn't even fade in the slightest.  I washed it several times and used many different tricks to try to remove the lines but they are still there today.  Oh well.  Maybe time will work it's magic. 

 

 One must find the positive and for this quilt it is that the back looks pretty cute and could it could be used as whole cloth quilt.  Of course the other positive is that mom made the blocks and I finished it with quilting.  It sure to be loved by one of the grandkids long after I'm gone.

In my eyes it's beautiful even with the dark lines.  Mom started teaching me to sew at a young age.  By the time I got into high school and was taking Home Ec classes I knew almost everything taught in the classes.  Ms. Coyle would often ask for help teaching the new skills.  She would be on one side of the class room with a circle of girls and I would be on the other side with my circle of girls.  The only thing I didn't know how to do was make quilts.  I hand pieced one fan quilt block in a class and swore I'd never make another. I took that thing apart three times and it was still wonky. However I did make a chicken scratch baby quilt for my final project that year.  When I turned in my quilt at the end of the semester I told her this is the first and the last time I'll ever make a quilt.  And here I am today totally obsessed with quilting.  

Until next time...

I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!

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Throwback Thursday ~ Vintage Embroidery Quilt

 Today I want to take a little trip down memory lane. I've shown this quilt here on my blog before and I'm sure I'll share it again.  It's by far the most memorable and loved quilt I've made during my quilting journey.  Not because it was complicated to make or designed by some so called famous designer but because of the story it has to tell.  Sure every quilt I make has a story but this one extra special.

My mom started making the hand embroidered blocks way back when I was pregnant with my first child in 1987.  I had no idea this little quilt top even existed until my first born child, Amanda, was pregnant with her first child.  Mom gave it to me and asked that I finish it for my daughter.  I was not the least bit interested in finishing this quilt.  The embroidered blocks were stitched on a very thin muslin and the yellow background fabric was a whimpy boring yellow polycotton.  Don't get me wrong, I'm no fabric snob.  There's a few older polycottons in my stash that I love and use often and no one is none the wiser.

How could I make this look great?  Maybe some applique or add some more embroidery.  I was stuck and uninspired.  To be honest I hated this little project and had absolutely no interest in finishing it.  It was pushed aside and eventually shoved in a box out of site.  

A year or two later it somehow managed to find it's way out of the box and back on my mind.  My grandson was here and like any new grandma I made several new cute quilts for him.  Did he really need another?  The embroidery seemed a little too girly for a little boy named Hunter Remington.  So....NO, I was struggling to finish it, let alone make it look like it was meant for a boy.  

After many hours of doing the quilt stare and cocking my head this way and that way it became obvious, remove the hideous yellow background fabric.  Then it was time to work some quilty magic and I needed help.  

Where do you go when you need help with quilting?  The quilt shop of course.  I took those embroidered blocks to the local quilt shop and asked the staff for assistance.  They immediately suggested 1930's reproduction fabrics.  Geesh,...why didn't I think of that.  I left the quilt shop with six 1930's prints and absolutely no idea what I was going to do with them.  They were my inspiration pieces.  Then the strangest thing happened in an online quilting forum.  Someone was selling a big ole box of 30's reproductions scraps.  The timing and price was perfect.  The powers that be were listening to plea for more 30's fabrics to make a scrappy quilt.

After a lot of digging around the internet there was finally a quilt plan.  The first thing I needed to do was to enlarge the outer edge of the embroidered blocks and add another layer of fabric to the back of the very thin muslin.  The quilt pattern I chose is called Hug's and Kisses.  A free pattern then and still is today. You can find it here. 

I wanted custom quilting but this was before I learned free motion or had a longarm.  Paying for custom quilting was not an option for my budget.  Did you know you can quilt with an embroidery machine?   My embroidery machine wasn't as fancy todays machine.  This was not an easy task but it looked much better than my quilting at the time

I was so happy how this turned out.  Now to add a label.

The label is hard to read due to the camera I used at the time.  It reads....

Embroidered 

1987

by

L.F. Mason

 

Pieced and quilted

2011

by

L.A. Brummett

Giving both mom and I credit was a way for me to document to the family this quilt is an heirloom and is  not to be sent to Goodwill when we die.  Next I needed to tell my daughter about the quilt and my plans.   She agreed with me, mom should have the quilt. 

  The look on moms face was priceless.  Her ugly little duckling had turned into a beautiful swan.   With tears swelling up in her eyes she stated she was going to show this sucker off to everyone she knew.  Those her exact words, a proud momma.  Proud of our combined effort and happy that my daughter and I thought she should enjoy her hard work.

Mom passed away a 4 years ago this month. The day of her funeral was my daughters birthday. The quilt is still on the bed in the spare bedroom of my dads home.

L.F. Mason

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