Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Whispers from the Past

I'm excited about this new little 14 piece collection from Jo Morton called Seneca Shirtings! I have been designing quilts that are reproductions of originals made by my great grandmother, and these will be perfect in one of them! Don't you just love it when you find just the right thing :) These cute shirtings will be shipping to quilt shops some time later this month.

My great grandmother, Anna Burton made quilts for the families of her children, and I am honored to own two of them. My grandfather's cousin gave them to my mom, who gave them to me! This is one of them. I keep it displayed here in the hallway outside my sewing room on the treadle machine that she probably made it on. My grandmother Lida had received the treadle machine from her mother-in-law, Anna and it was the only machine that she ever sewed on. As a child I was fascinated by it whenever we visited Kentucky, so my grandmother passed it on to me before she died. I cherish it.

The other quilt that Great Grandma Burton made I keep put safely away because that one is not in as good condition as the log cabin quilt above (It's the reproduction of that one I'll use the shirtings in). I do get it out occasionally and fold it gently over our upstairs banister for display, it's has a great summertime feel. This is why I'm planning to make reproductions of them. I want to perserve these whispers from the past and share them with others in our family. Maybe this new little shirting collection will help me move forward with these designs that have been on the back burner for a while!

Enjoy your day!
~ Dawn

PS ~ Notice that we have our logo on the blog header now! Thank you Ashley for your help in formatting the logo!!

2 comments:

BigEeh said...

My, that old machine brings back memories. My Grama had a treadle machine on her back (enclosed) porch. We were told to NEVER touch it because it is a dangerous piece of equipment to operate. Once it gets going, it is hard to stop! And to make the point even clearer, we were told how Grama once had it going so fast, she sent her finger right under the needle with the fabric. As I am writing this, I am realizing there is bone in the finger, and the needle probably did not pierce the bone, so it really was not as bad as it sounded as a child...

Well, I have no idea what my Grama sewed; it certainly was not quilts. There are no quilts in my family history. Grama did have seven sons, and I am sure there was plenty of mending to be done on the farm!

Julie in WA

Dawn said...

Julie ~ Thanks for the wonderful comment! My great grandma made quilts, but I think my grandmas mostly just did mending on the treadle machine too (she had five sons and my mom). She crocheted afghans and such, but I don't know of any quilts that she made. She was a busy lady though, she took in ironing to help pay the bills on top of all of her own household chores!