Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Quilts on Tuesday-Oh, Baby!

The first quilt my mom ever made was a doll-sized quilt with appliqued tulips. Since that time she has made more baby quilts than I can even remember. She likes making baby quilts because they are quicker to do since they are small and they give her an opportunity to play with new techniques she wants to try without having to commit to a huge bed-sized quilt. She has made baby quilts for many grand nieces and nephews as well as children and grandchildren of friends. For a while she was also producing several a year for Project Linus which is an organization that provides "security blankets" for critically ill or otherwise traumatized children.

It was natural that once her own grandchildren started arriving she'd provide each of them with a quilt. Before I share the ones my mom has made though I will share one my great grandmother made for my uncle when he was a baby. My paternal grandmother wanted to give me the one that had been made for my father but it has pretty much fallen apart. Since my cousins had no interest in such things I was blessed with the one made for their father instead. It's much smaller than the crib-sized quilts my mom made but it was the perfect size for when my kids were in bassinets and cradles.




Here's a close up of the hand stitching holding the bird appliques to the quilt top. Although I'm not a big fan of applique I have always though this was such a pretty piece. It has held up beautifully for being over 70 years old and the colors are still so vibrant.


Here's the gratuitous "cute baby shot" of Diana sleeping soundly under it.



As promised here are the baby quilts my mom made for each of my kids. Diana's is appliqued. Mom also made my wedding gown and all of my bridesmaids' gowns. If you can see, the bear is wearing a white top hat. That is satin a satin scrap from my gown. The red saddle and rocker are scraps from the bridesmaids' gowns.


For Calypso's quilt Mom enjoyed experimenting with fabric paint. As it turned out, yellow was Calypso's favorite color for a long time.


When Isaac came along Mom was learning to cross stitch so she cross-stitched the designs on the top of his quilt. Her cross-stitch period didn't last long since she was beginning to develop arthritis in her hands and even hand quilting soon became a thing of the past for her. She indulged herself in a top of the line sewing machine and now machine quilts.

Each of these quilts are carefully packed away to be passed on when my children are having their own children. My grandmother crocheted blankets and sweaters for me and for my children. My mother made quilts for each of us. I'll have to make something for the next generation when it is my turn. I hope my kids don't mind tie dyed onesies...

25 comments:

EmBee said...

What incredibly beautiful and touching heirlooms. Makes me wish I could quilt... At the very least it would've been nice to have SOMEONE in my family who passed SOMETHING down.
:-(

Craver Vii said...

There was frost on the windshield this morning. I wish I had a quilt while driving to work!

A tulip quilt. As a Calvinist, I find that one most appealing. :-)

Elle Dubya said...

these posts have me inspired to try quilting and a baby blanket would be the perfect size to start with! i pulled out my own baby quilt that my grandma made when i was born and took pictures for a quilt post. i may have to email one to you for help in figuring out the pattern.

KFarmer said...

Those are so precious! The sheets Diana are sleeping on brought back memories.. I had the same ones :)

btw, I bought the stuff to tie dye... you inspired me to re~live my youth :)Thank you~

G-Man said...

As much of an inspiration these beautiful quilts are...I ain't taking up quilting!!!

furiousBall said...

i'm glad i wasn't there. because i would totally steal that baby's comfy quilt

barman said...

These are just incredible. I can not believe the detail that went into those hand made quilts. I hope this is a compliment but they look machine made. They are just perfect. And the meaning is incredible especially the one for Diana.

I think you contribution would of course need to be tie dye. It just seems to be woven into your own fabric so much so that it would feel wrong to leave that out. But beyound that you tell a great story and you work all so wonderfully together. I have to believe you should find some way to express that very thing in your own items to share with the next generation.

Now if only those fancy machines were not so expensive. That would be awesome to learn to do things like that. Maybe I should just focus on something I can do with my camera and a little TLC on top of that.

Wonderful post Lime. I feel all warm and toasty inside now.

Kat said...

Wow. What amazing gifts. Something to treasure for sure.

I took a crocheting class just so I could make each of my babies a baby blanket. I'm glad I did it but I wish I were better at it. I wish I had your mother's quilting ability. Just gorgeous!

Bijoux said...

Love the lovebirds quilt. And I think tie dyed onesies would be a great thing to have - hides the spit up stains!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful legacy. Don't you just want to kiss the back of that sweet neck?
I do one or two things quite well, a great many things so-so and even more things vey badly, but I do make Xstitched mats for cad players, in all the primary colours of a playing card. But to quilt...that is something I would have loved to learn, but then, when would I find time to read all these wonderful blogs, not to mention writing my own.

Anonymous said...

I meant of course, 'card' players, though that is not to say that they can't be cads.

Cooper said...

Kewl. So where is the shot of the bride and bridesmaids???

It's snowing here...as Linus would say..

AAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

S said...

Yes I wanna see your wedding dress!

I just love seeing Hannah wear/use the things that my mom gave her. Of course, she has to enjoy them now, since my mom never got larger than a 12 year old!


Loving that baby pic of Diana...you sure were a swaddler, werent you!

lime said...

embee, you could be the one who starts the heirlooms in your family :) you are a potter right?

craver, calvinist baby quilts eh? must mean they were predestined for each kid

ella, i'd be glad to help in any way i can

kfarmer, i think the sheets in that picture had been mine as a baby. i am TICKLED to think i have inspired you to tie dye again:)

gman, you've got enough other retro things at your house!

furiousball, in that case i am glad you're not here either!

barman, we all have our particular skills and when we add love to them we can make things of real beauty whther quilting, music, photography, or whatever

kat, they are treasures. how wonderful that you learned a new skill just to make something for your babies:)

cocotte, you make an EXCELLENT point about the virtues of tie dyed baby clothes

moannie, mmm, kissing babies and inhaling their scent is a joy, no? i've seen your painting and read your writing, you are tremendously gifted.

cooper, snow in this part of the world in october..just...ain't..right...ok, i will dig around and look for a picture for you

s, ok, ok..i will find a picture and scan it for you and cooper. and i remember those dresses hannah modeled..they were VERY mod, very cool.

Anonymous said...

back again, Lime. Thank you for your visit to my post. I have just looked at your 'door' post and was so happy to see so many bits of history so well cared for. When visiting the States it was something very noticable; when you have something old and historic you nurture it. Here in Europe it only really very very old things that are protected by law.

Ed & Jeanne said...

I sleep just like that baby! Ok, maybe I have a bigger quilt...

Anonymous said...

Once again, Lime... these are beautiful! Thanks for taking them out of the vault and sharing. :)

Maddy said...

They're quite delightful. I made a variety of quilts for each of my children and several knitted / crochet blankets. I have several that are half finished that I have no idea what to do with now. I'm sure it would be a curse to give them to someone else[s] child on completion. Maybe I just need to complete them an gain some closure.
Best wishes

Flash said...

My mom made me a quilt for my 18th birthday out of all my old hockey jerseys. It was cool.

But somewhere in moving, i tgot lost and I never found it.

Congrats on that one. Looks awesome!

Balou said...

Those are beautiful! I love your quilt Tuesdays. It inspired the background on my blog.

Breazy said...

I am so glad to see that someone besides myself enjoys quilts that have been passed down. My mom is quilter too and unfortunately I have never been able to catch on. My stitches look like a drunk has gotten hold of a needle and thread and my mother will NOT have that. Her stitches are right on, each one even with the last.

Thanks for sharing and I too want to see your wedding gown.

Have a great evening! :)

Anonymous said...

Those are great. My grandmother pieced a baby quilt top but never quileted it - so I quilted the top when my first child was born.

Moosekahl said...

Those are the most precious memories. I made a blanket for my mom the last year she was sick. It was a extra big fleece tie blanket with a black background and John Deere farm scenes on the front with the John Deere yellow for the back. When she passed away, my sister sent it home with me. I have had it draped over my bed here in AK since I got here. It was on the couch at the old place.

Hold tight to all those wonderful stitches of love.

lime said...

moannie, thanks so much for taking the time to stop at that post. i'm so glad you enjoyed it. it's also rather lovely to have a european appreciating something about the american attitude toward history.

ve, yes, i am afraid the baby quilt would keep very little warm on an adult

lecram, thanks for taking time to say you enjoyed them :)

maddy, i made cross stitched blankets that i designed for my first two. my son's never got quite finished. i think maybe for his first child...it's shameful really.

flash, oh i like that idea of the hockey jersey quilt! my mom made one for one of my cousins out of all her concert t-shirts. how terrible that yours got lost...really, that makes me sad.

balou, i love your new background!

breazy, i'm glad i am not the only daughter of a quilter who seems to lack the skills her mother has.

citizen, that's pretty special that the baby quilt was worked on by two different generations.

moose, awww, i hope that blanket keeps you warm in more ways than one, my friend. big hugs.

Jocelyn said...

Handmade quilts sort of make me cry a lot. My mom makes them, too, and they are the first thing (okay, second, after the kids) I'd toss out the window in the event of a fire.

Question: when do we get to see a pic of you in that wedding gown?