A Very Special WIP Wednesday

We all have projects that have been laying around for, well, a while. Possibly also guilt-tripping us with their beady little eyes.

Get ready to feel better about them. This quilt top has been a work in progress for more than 40 years.

My mom came up for a visit this weekend, and brought a family heirloom with her: a quilt top made by my great-grandmother in 1968.

From a dress my mom made in the 60s

It is at once the most hideous and most beautiful quilt top I've ever seen.

From a dress of my grandmother's

Emma Dashnaw, my great-grandmother, pieced it on her early-1900s Standard treadle (still used by my aunt).




A dairy farmer's wife in rural New York, Emma did it all-- home-made doughnuts (Mom's favorite memory), gardening, cooking, baking, quilting, garment sewing, and button-collecting, not to mention all the chores involved in keeping the cows, kids, and chickens happy and healthy.

A shirt my mom made for her dad

As her quilt top shows, Emma favored function over form. When clothes were worn, she cut them up and re-purposed them as blankets. My grandfather, an Army Sergeant, would bring her old wool army blankets, which she used as batting. All her quilts were tied with yarn.

A party dress

When quilts got old, she just sandwiched them in between a new top and backing.

Clearly, Emma was not plagued with my level of perfectionism. Then again, she was probably just too busy.





What better time to introduce my classic seamstress mom to modern quilting than with a backing for this quilt. I thought a liberated log cabin block, on a field of Kona Snow, would be just the thing.

How did that print get in there? Sneaky.

Selecting the fabric was fun. Since the front is so busy, we decided to go with solids that reflect the major colors in the top. I really branched out from my normal palette, and ended up loving the result.

At the end of the day, there's just no matching brand-new cotton and 43-year-old polyester.

So we forged ahead!

Mom looked on anxiously while I cut random strips. She was still a little unsure as we laid them out. But once we started sewing, cutting, and placing, she could see it taking shape. I have never done improv sewing with another person. It was an amazing experience to co-create a piece of art.

The result

I am so so in love with it. I think Emma would have loved it too. How marvelous to think that over 100 years of quilting heritage made this piece possible.

I might have a new obsession with solids.

So from Emma's WIP list, to my mom's, to mine...a top and a backing that will span two centuries, four decades, a continent, and four generations.

(Did I not promise you'd feel better about your own WIP list? :o)

When my mom visits again, we're going to tie it together. Too many metaphors!!!

Progress Has Also Been Made On...
Brother Quilt
Mumu

Finishes
A Lisette Portfolio dress

Still Marinating

Paisley Sunrise (being hand-quilted)

Spring Sampler

Annnnnnd....since we're talking family and WIPs (heheheh), I want to wish a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favorite little sister, who is 21 today :o)

Check out more WIPs over at Lee's (whose link-up is having a birthday! Congrats on one year, Lee! Thanks for keeping this going!):