Quilting Memories from the Past!

Through the years I’ve made many quilts for my children and grandchildren. One of my favorites was the quilt I made for my grandson Bryan when he was in high school. He was here for a visit from Upper Michigan when he asked me to make him a quilt. I was surprised but delighted when he came with me to the fabric store and carefully selected the fabrics he wanted me to use. Bright orange for one of his high school colors and blue/green/aqua watercolor batiks and plaids to go with it. I wondered how that would all work out. But it did and he continues to enjoy it today even though he’s away at college.

Another favorite quilt was the quilt I made for Bryan’s dad, my son Paul, when he was in college. The colors were in calico browns, tans, and oranges with strips made to look like arrows. I named it “Peace Treaty” and he loved it!

In the 1970’s my daughters Tamara and Carrie accompanied me to art fairs in Michigan where I sold my quilts, quilted pillows, and stuffed and puppet animals. On one particular art fair day, in Manchester, Michigan, we sold a whopping forty quilts. And all of the puppet dogs sold to teenagers who ran up and down the streets having fun playing with their new pets. What a day that was!

But of all the quilt memories that I cherish, the one that stands out among all others is the quilt my mother (who was NOT a quilter) made for my sister and me. She had "inherited" several old suits from my uncle which had been languishing in an old trunk. Winter was coming to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and it was getting mighty cold outside. So my mother cut those old brown and grey suits into squares, zipped them together on her sewing machine, added a blanket backing and tied them with red yarn. My sister and I cuddled under that woolen quilt and were warm as toast throughout the long winter!(L to R: Coralie, Mom, baby Connie.)