A Cherished Memory

Have you ever had that moment when some object took you back in time, brought back a memory long forgotten, or reminded you of someone in your past?  This happened to me when I recently bought a new pair of dressy ankle height boots. When I brought them home and put them in my closet, I decided to keep the box to store the steps of my Celtic Solstice mystery quilt.

 

And that is when my memory happened. My grandmother, who was an avid quilter, stashed her unfinished projects in shoe boxes. She would pack the cut, scrappy pieces into a box along with the pattern for that project. The box often included completed blocks, but perhaps she needed more of a certain color to finish or just became distracted with another pattern, as quilters are prone to do.

 

When she passed, her daughters found several unfinished projects. (My mom fell heir to some of them.) They happened upon a rather dilapidated box that contained a Wedding Ring in its early stages. One aunt told my mom she should take it, but my mom looked at the tiny pieces and said she didn't think she had the patience for that. So the aunts told Mom to give it to my sister, which brought laughter from Mom. She told them my sister would promptly toss it in the trash; that I would be more likely to actually make something of it.

 

And that is how I acquired a box of Grandma's UFOs. I transferred it to a small tote and stuck it in my closet. I see it occasionally when I am scrounging through those shelves in search of just the right fabric. I got it out the other day to take the following photo, and I decided I really must finish that quilt in memory of my grandma. My grandma had 13 granddaughters, and as far as I know, I am the only one who is carrying on her love of quilting.



 

Now that I am finished with Celtic Solstice, another UFO has made its home in my shoebox. Because I became distracted with other quilts, and because I am not certain how I am going to finish this off, Star Tricks has taken up residence in the shoe box.

 

I thought you might enjoy seeing some of my grandmother's work. She made a quilt for each of her grandchildren, and somehow I was favored with the Broken Star.

 

 

She loved to use red in her quilts to make them really pop.



 

This Green Path Flower Garden quilt is taking my time and attention. It is for a lady I met at a farmer's market years ago, and she is going blind and is unable to finish it. She had all of the flowers made when I agreed to finish it for her. I do, however, still need to make half flowers for each end. That is what I am hoping to accomplish on our upcoming trip.