family history

The Pied a Terre Quilt from Ann Quilts

A couple of years ago, I told Part 1 of this story, in which I mended a memory quilt for a customer. She shared its sweet story for me to share here. On the post, you can see the quilt and read the story of family love across generations and many miles. I've also described the mending and rebuilding that I did.

Here are a couple of photos from Part 1 to whet your whistle. In today's post, I will share Part 2.

Part 2 began when I received this email from the quilt owner.

A few weekends ...

added by Ann 6 months ago. under baskets , binding , family heirloom , family history , memory quilt , quilt repair , quilt restoration

A blast from the past from Crazy Quilter on a Bike!

My Fitbit is going to die from lack of use! In the last three days, I've walked less than I would in ONE day. I know -- it's not a big deal, and it might be good to take a break. But I can see that being inactive isn't good for me. And it's not even the walking -- I NEED something to do, and I can only visit for so long before I feel like I'm going crazy. And I feel tired from lack of doing anything!

Oh well -- it too shall pass, and before I ...

added by Elaine 1 year, 5 months ago. under catalogues , family history , family memories

Some Sad News and some Good News from The Modern Diary

My Uncle Dan passed away this past month. He flew to Arizona for a Spring Break trip and collapsed in the airport. It took a bit for his body to come back to Wisconsin, so last week we had the funeral. Combine that with my Mom's health declining (she went in for chemo and changed her mind since the prep caused another heart attack) I decided to go be with the family for the week. I tried hard to pace myself so I would not get worse again this summer as I did last summer. Here is my uncle ...

added by Andee 1 year, 7 months ago. under a quilting life bom2023 , family history , hawaii sunset bucket list quilt , kathleen tracy , little blooms , mini quilts , red button quilt of the month

More community project quilts from Crazy Quilter on a Bike!

So much to say, so little time!

I'm going gangbusters with these community project quilts, and I have a goal in mind as to what I want to accomplish with my downtime. That sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, but you know what I mean. Then once those quilts are done, it'll be time to get back to customer quilts -- there are a "few" waiting to be done.

Here are the two quilts from yesterday. I know -- some of these look like the same quilt, but they are NOT.

Community project quilt - DONE

Community project quilt - DONE ...

added by Elaine 2 years, 1 month ago. under charity quilts , family history , lexi , murphy , neighbohood

A new learning curve from Crazy Quilter on a Bike!

I have so many things I want to get done, and I'm motivated. I have no time to work! I mean teaching and stuff! It's exciting to get up in the morning, knowing there are things to do even though I have ZERO deadlines. I can't imagine how people can "live" without some form of motivation. Anyway, I could almost say that my days are like Groundhog Day. For the past week, I've been doing the SAME thing every day. And while I did that yesterday, there were a few differences.

And I'm over the ...

added by Elaine 2 years, 1 month ago. under charity quilts , family history , green tea , lexi , long arm , murphy , neighbourhood

Like a dog with a bone! from Crazy Quilter on a Bike!

Thanks again for all your comments -- I'll get to answering them/commenting back, hopefully later today! While I write the blog for my sanity, I also enjoy sharing it, and if it inspires, motivates, or amuses others, that's a bonus.

This story I'm about to tell you is disturbing, and I know that some of you will say, "I told you so!" Don't yell at me, and don't tell me NOT to shop there. Yes -- this is a story about Bulk Barn. The last time, I caught some teen girls helping themselves to candies or ...

added by Elaine 2 years, 4 months ago. under boho heart , customer quilt , family history

Memory Quilt from Ann Quilts

Here is why people treasure quilts. This quilt holds so many loving memories, symbolizes such a great story, and inspired this beautiful essay. (Notes and photos on the repair process follow the story.)

My paternal grandmother made this quilt in the mid-1990s. It was born from love that went back one long lifetime, and love that she wanted to carry forward several more lifetimes.

Grandma was a proud, tough “Okie.” Born in 1919, she came of age in the worst hard times: on a homestead farm between Hough and Guymon, Oklahoma, during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. She ...

added by Ann 2 years, 7 months ago. under family history , memory quilt , quilt repair , string quilt

A New Chapter from Humble Quilts

Blue and white quilts always remind me of the snowy mountains in Central Oregon!

I put them on display when the Christmas quilts come down.

Totality 2017

Now for really big news!

WE SOLD OUR BUSINESS! Papers were signed on Saturday!

We will continue to run the Machine Shop. The work load for paperwork and stress will be so much less! It all happened a little earlier than we anticipated, but the opportunity could not be passed up.

This is why I mentioned a few posts ago that I will be having more time to sew and create!

I'd ...

added by Lori 2 years, 11 months ago. under family , family history , two color quilt

Travelog, part 4: family history in the Northeast Kingdom from With Strings Attached

Wikipedia explains: The Northeast Kingdom is the northeast corner Vermont comprising Essex, Orleans, and Caldedonia Counties. The population is about 65,000. . The term "Northeast Kingdom" is attributed to George D. Aiken, governor and senator. He first used the term in a 1949 speech. The area is often referred to by Vermonters simply as "The Kingdom."

The Stevens and Woods families settled in and around St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in the early 19th century. The Hilyard children spent every summer in their mother's hometown in the late 1940's and early 1950's. We hadn't been there since 1998 ...

added by Nann 3 years ago. under cemeteries , fairbanks museum , family history , st. johnsbury

Quilt for an 1895 Wedding from Ann Quilts

I love a dated quilt. I love a dated quilt with a family story (see full story below). Combined together....well.... it's simply grand.

The fabrics have some preservation issues and staining throughout. And at some point, a critter chewed a hole in the quilt and almost chewed a second. The good part of that story is that the critter was polite enough to avoid chewing up any of the embroidered history.

#1

#2

I patched both places. Here's one.

I patched the damaged black squares with an antique fabric (with white swirl print). And I put on ...

added by Ann 3 years, 2 months ago. under album quilt , antique fabric , dated quilt , embroidery , family heirloom , family history , quilt repair , wedding quilt

Family Quilts: A Quilt from Every Generation for 150+ Years from Ann Quilts

A customer sent me a quilt for repair, and included photos of her collection of family quilts. She gave me permission to share them with you here. What a treat to have this many quilts passed down for so many generations! And only one, the Grandmother's Flower Garden, was in need of repair.

The owner says:

I have a quilt from every generation down through ones that my mother made for me and for her 9 grandchildren. My family tree goes back to the Mayflower as a direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullin; it also includes James ...

added by Ann 3 years, 3 months ago. under delectable mountains , family heirloom , family history , grandmother's flower garden , laurel leaves , log cabin , quilt repair , windblown tulip

Family Names on a Signature Quilt - Part 3 from Ann Quilts

Well, well, well. The story continues. The backstory for this post can be found in two previous posts:

Flexner Family Names on a Signature Quilt
...in which researching names on a 1910 quilt traced the relationship between those people and my ancestors.

Family Names on a Signature Quilt - Part 2
...in which I was contacted by relatives of the people whose names are on the quilt, and they confirmed that whole new (to me) branch of my family. The discussion left many more unanswered questions of the exact ties between the two branches.

---------------

And now for Part 3. This chapter ...

added by Ann 3 years, 5 months ago. under family history , genealogy , photography

A Log Cabin Quilt with Mystery from Ann Quilts

I really fell in love with this "homey" log cabin. It's such a cozy look - and feel, too, as the fabrics are well-loved and very soft.

Family history says it was made in Virginia for the owner's mother, at or shortly after her birth, so in 1920-22. The fabrics support that oral history, and it's a lovely collection of fabrics from the 1920s.

The mystery is that the top row of blocks was cut off at some point, and then reattached. You can see that the straight furrow design reverses at the top row. The reattaching was ...

added by Ann 3 years, 5 months ago. under antique fabric , family heirloom , family history , log cabin quilt , quilt repair , vintage fabrics

A Sparkling Crazy Quilt - Part 2 from Ann Quilts

I've just received a wonderful story in my email. It comes from a woman whose family quilt I've just repaired. If anyone ever asks why history is important and fun and how quilts can be a part of history, here is the best answer!

Good morning. Last evening my grand daughters, Desmin 7 and Cecilia 3 were over for dinner and we were sitting in the dining room. Desmin was facing the quilt and Cecilia with her back to the quilt. The girls are usually very observant and notice anything different in our house but had said nothing ...

added by Ann 3 years, 5 months ago. under beading , crazy quilt , embroidery , family heirloom , family history , quilt repair

A Sparkling Crazy Quilt from Ann Quilts

This is a stand-out crazy quilt, isn't it?

I generally think of Victorian crazies as having so many more blacks and maroons, browns and navies, with brighter fabrics and embroidery threads interspersed only now and then.

So I looked back at photos of other crazies that have crossed my path, and well, was surprised to see how many are very colorful after all. So what is it about this one that makes it feel so very different?

This quilt is super joyful! It is packed of a wide variety of embellishments, all heightened by beading and other creative and ...

added by Ann 3 years, 5 months ago. under beading , crazy quilt , design , embroidery , family heirloom , family history , quilt repair , sequins , silk velvet

Antique Photo from Melrose, MA from Ann Quilts

A few years ago, I did a lot of research on a quilt with many names inscribed. It seems to be fund-raising quilt, and was made in Melrose, MA, in 1897 or 8. The information and connections made via this quilt just keep on coming...

You can read about the quilt, the research process, and the results - there are 14 blog posts - starting here, if you want to read through the whole process step by step. There also is a summary of the process, a description of my adventures taking the quilt "home" to Melrose, and downloadable sets of data ...

added by Ann 3 years, 6 months ago. under dated quilt , family history , name inscribed quilt , oral history , photography , snowflake quilt

Siblings Day from With Strings Attached

April 10 is Siblings Day. (Here is the Wikipedia link.)

Nancy and Lori, 1955
(I couldn't pronounced Valerie. When she was six she said she was Valerie. When I was 16 I said I wanted to be Nann.)

Valerie and Nann, 1968

1993

2002

2019

David and Carolyn Blaine, 1924

Carolyn and David, 1936

Marion and Bob Carothers, Dec., 1926. Marion's first birthday, Bob's second.

Charlie and Marion, 1952.

Marion and Bob, January, 2002. Bob came when Dave (Dad) died.
Marion died that April and Bob died that July. It was quite a year.

The Hilyard siblings ...

added by Nann 3 years, 7 months ago. under family history , siblings day

More Snowflake Quilts for the Winter Solstice from Ann Quilts

Yes, I'm a day late for the Solstice, but better late than never, I figure. Let's slow down for a while and appreciate the cycles of time and the amazing Earth we all share. Wishing everyone health and kindness.

And so, let's talk about the quilts. I've showcased two Snowflake quilts here on my blog made from a Paragon kit. And now, here come numbers 3 and 4!!!

The first quilt I wrote about was a repair job. The quilt was made in the late 1930s. There are two posts. One tells about the quilt and ...

added by Ann 3 years, 10 months ago. under applique , family history , paragon quilt kits , pattern history , snowflake quilt

Dad's Quilt of Valor and More from The Modern Diary

I am really enjoying the Once Upon a Book Club boxes! I read this one in a few days. Normally I think Picoult is a bit to fluffy but this book had lots of info on Egypt, death dualas, etc. I actually really enjoyed it and was not sure which couple to root for!

I am also really getting into solo gaming! I have been playing Tiny Epic Zombies almost everyday. I need to teach it to Kathy so we can play competitive or cooperatively, but so far I got my ten bucks out of this used game (which arrived ...

added by Andee 4 years ago. under family history , games , quilt of valor , reading

Musing on Family History and Our Current National Disasters from Ann Quilts

I posted a few days ago about how about a quilt made in Iowa 1910 is connected to my ancestors and family members. At one point in my writing, it occurred to me how many people whose names are on that quilt soon were to experience the 1918 pandemic. In fact Etta Flexner, whose is one of the people I was researching, died in 1919. I haven’t been able to find a death certificate for her (yet), but who knows - the timing is right for her to have been a flu victim. She was 40 years old at her ...

added by Ann 4 years, 1 month ago. under family history , photography

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