Mom started this quilt before she got married, so that puts it before 1942. She was never able to finish it. It sat in her bedroom closet for many years. our cat, Midnight, had kittens in the box of all of the pieces one year. My sister Diane took it out to finish it after she had done some of her own quilting. She and Janice sorted through the pieces. They had to toss a few. One of them finished the applique on a few pieces, and I finished some of the embroidery. Then they purchased material for sashing and borders. I started the hand quilting several years ago, but was unsure of how to procede after doing the sashing, so I set it aside. A couple of years ago one of my quilting friends gave me some hints as to how to complete it. We were able to present it to my mom this month on her 93rd birthday.
I have to say that when I did the embroidery, I was just learning how, and it looks awful. Same with the first quilting that I did. My stitches were toe catchers! If I had known then what I know now....My sister Janice, who has since had much more quilting experience, also says she would have chosen different batting. And of course, reproduction fabrics came out after Diane picked out fabric for sashing. It is difficult to match fabrics from one manufacturer to another, let alone to try to match colors from a different year, or colors on fabric which has aged, so it was a challenging project.
Mom's original work was very meticulous. The fabric pieces used for the applique have their own charm, as do the embroidery accents around the appliqued figures. I feel bad that we did not get a history of any of the fabrics while Mom was still able to remember. I am very glad that it is finished.
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