Thursday, January 27, 2011

Unexpected Trip to the Midwest

On January 14, Hubs and I loaded the dogs and a suitcase into The Tank and headed west to St. Louis.  An unexpected trip back to Hubs' boyhood home was in order as his mom had emergency surgery.  We stayed on for ten days until Hubs' brother could come to stay with Maxine the Great.

Genealogy is one of Hubs hobbies.  He took the opportunity to scan some pictures of his ancestors.   

This is a picture of his maternal great grandmother, Irene Jane Collins.
She lived from 1868 - 1949.
Maxine the Great wanted me to look for this quilt that Irene Jane, her father's mother made.  It is not known when she made this quilt, but it is thought to be about 100 years old.   

A close up view shows that the appliqued pieces were created by folding the fabric in fourths then cutting out a quarter of the pattern.  While the applique was sewn on by machine, the quilting was done by hand. 

 Here is a picture taken just before we left Hubs' mom's home.  Maxine the Great is moving a little slower and still gaining strength, but she is doing well.

It has been a while since I have joined other vintage lovers for Vintage Thingies Thursday.






Photobucket

13 comments:

Coloradolady said...

Bea...It sure has been a while!!! This is a really beautiful quilt. It is amazing the work done by hand on these vintage quilts. that one is a beauty, I love the colors!!!

Thanks for linking in today....good to see you here!!

Keetha Broyles said...

I HOPE you enjoyed your time in the midwest, all our midwest hospitality and all!

LV said...

That is not the kind of trips we like to make. At least sounds like yours turned out okay. Glad everyone is doing better. I have never seen that quilt pattern. I have several, but not this. It is unusual and very pretty.

Honey at 2805 said...

I always enjoy seeing everyone's person vintage family pictures. They are such treasures. Geneology is one of my hobbies too!

Anonymous said...

What an awesome quilt! I sure hope your mother-in-law gets feeling better soon.

Roslyn said...

Love your treasure of a quilt Bea, I too have been MIA from VTT for some time!

Busy Bee Suz said...

I hope Maxine the great gets back to her full greatness soon.
Love that quilt!!!!

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

Hi Bea,

Your blog is really neat. I just became a follower.

I love your quilt!

Have a great weekend,


Kathy

Sweet European Dreams said...

I love the unique shapes in the design and even better that you didn't just buy it - it's part of your family! Thanks so much for stopping by my page today - I'm following you now! -diane
http://www.sweeteuropeandreams.com

Rebecca said...

I hope you had a great trip-I'm in love with your house-seen it on the sidebar!

Kathy said...

Oh, wow, that is a beautiful old quilt! And very seasonal as well, with the heart design. Hope your mother-in-law makes a speedy recovery.

Miri said...

Beautiful quilt! It was so nice to see a photo of the maker too. What a great family heirloom!

Can I ask, how was the applique machine sewn down? I'm guessing with a straight stitch and matching thread because in the photo I couldn't tell.

Pam Kessler said...

That is a beautiful quilt. I always imagine the amount of time it took them to quilt it. They had so much more patience than I do, but they also didn't have as many distractions as we do now.