Thursday, February 14, 2013

Treasure Chest Thursday - My Grandmother's Quilt

My mother's mother was Myrtle (Schmitt) Dewey. She was quite the crafty woman and was accomplished at sewing, needlepoint and even made quite beautiful Christmas ornaments. She was the perfect grandmother in every way except one. She lived over a thousand miles away in San Diego, California.
Both my mother and my grandmother were quite gifted in the art of letter writing. My grandmother wrote me every week and I reciprocated until her death in 1973. When I was 10 years old my grandmother came to Chicago and stayed with us for a month to help care for my mother after her hysterectomy. She brought with her one of the quilts she had made from her husband's neckties. This quilt is a small piece of both my grandmother and grandfather. Knowing how proper was grandfather was, I was quite surprised at how whimsical some of his ties were and wondered if he actually wore them. Although the pictures do not do it justice, it is one of my prized possessions because it reminds me of my sweet grandma.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for telling a little bit about your grandmother and for sharing pictures of her lovely quilt. The pieces are tiny, and slippery silk tie fabric is a bit tricky to work with.

    Oh, and I LOVE her name! I have a grandma Myrtle, too!

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  2. Such a beautiful quilt! I have a collection of ties from my father-in-law and an uncle. This gives me inspiration to do something like this with them. Thank you. Your grandmother, Myrtle, is lovely.

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  3. It's beautiful! I love to quilt and this is such a great example of merging two loves: family history and quilting. Thanks for sharing!

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