Friday, May 21, 2010

My First Quilt Was a Tablecloth

A big thanks goes out to Amy for organizing the Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2010. To enter a quilt or to see all the quilts, click on the red text or use the button in the right-hand column.  

Photos of the blocks are posted here and here and here and here and here.

Momma's Quilt
I made my first finished quilt for my mom. Each crazy log cabin block has a family photo in the center that has something to do with food. The quilt was supposed to be used as a tablecloth -- that's why the photos around the edge all face out.

My mom used it as a decorative tablecloth on her little round table in the family room but she never used it as a "working" tablecloth because she was afraid of ruining it. Years later, when she down-sized her household, the quilt was kept on the back of her sofa, and used when she took a nap. NOTE: Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Colors, Batting, Quilting
The colors are my mom's favorites: pink, peach, coral, and magenta. I threw in other colors that played off the colors in the photos. It was a bit of a challenge to mix black-and-white with color photos. I think it works fairly well. If I had it to do over, I'd lose the mustard yellow fabric and the brown-orange fabric. The sashing is a batik. I don't recall what I used for batting, but it's something thin. I did simple stitch-in-the-ditch quilting.

Something to Talk About
Finding photos was easy. My father was a photographer and my family is into food -- big time!  One of the best parts of the quilt it that it made it easy for my mom to tell new friends all about our family's love of food. Every photo had a story behind it. I'll post the close-up photos as the week progresses -- see links above.

The Pasta Pictures
The nine central photos were taken by my younger brother when I was already away at college. That was the night my father decided he could make pasta from scratch without a recipe. He was inspired by childhood memories of his mother making noodles from scratch. She started with a bunch of flour on her bread board, made a well in the center, added a cracked egg, and mixed it with her hands. As the story goes, my mom laughed at my father until he laughed at her because he got it to work! That was the beginning of  "the pasta years" when my parents made lots of pasta.

The Label and the Back
I kept the back simple; it's a nice break from the busy front. The label is a pocket for a card that describes the photos and who is in each one. That's a picture of me in my college years, surrounded by a batch of Slovenian potica. I'll write more about the label and the story in one of my follow-up postings this week.

Matching Pillow
This 1940's photo, taken by my father, features my mom, her four sisters, and their mother. My mom was the youngest of seven; she's the one in the back. The dark solid blue is velveteen.

Re-Take
If I had it to do over, I'd just use blues, grays, browns, and all the vivid colors in the sashing. I'd drop the mustard yellow fabric and that brown fabric with the splashes of orange. What was I thinking? While wonkiness is what you are looking for in a crazy log cabin, I don't think I got the wonkiness quite right. Some pieces are too narrow; some angles are too acute, some are too square. Still, this quilt gave my mom a lot of pleasure -- and that gave me a lot of pleasure, too. Now that she's gone, I have the quilt and enjoy using it; it definitely helped keep me warm this winter!

20 comments:

Dolly said...

What a wonderful story............that's exactly why this festival is so special ! This is a great family quilt, even if it did start out to be on a table !

Goodness, I was already hungry, and now you have me wanting fresh pasta ! Good for your dad, sticking with it, until he could have the last laugh !

Kriza said...

no wonder your Mom wouldn't use it as a real table cloth, this is an awesome quilt. and I love the story of it too, congratulations, you did a great job!
Kristina
www.priscillacraft.blogspot.com

myBearpaw said...

This is a wonderful quilt - so special! And a lovely story too, thank you for sharing it with us!

Quilted Librarian said...

This is just inspired, Minka! The colors and fabric choices are terrific and the wonderful family stories that it preserves make it so special.
Warm regards,
Dana

imquilternity said...

Wonderful idea and beautiful quilt! You must be a very special daughter!

Sandra said...

Great quilt and story and kudos on the detailed label -future quilt historians will thank people like you.
Don't you love wonky logcabins-can't go wrong with them.
Sandra Starley

Come see my new star quilt & its 1890 antique cheddar star inspiration
http://starleyquilts.blogspot.com

and my 1890 pink blazing star antique
http://utahquiltappraiser.blogspot.com

Carol said...

Oooh what a fabulous idea.

Allie said...

This is an amazing quilt, just from a design standpoint - the photos and the story make it spectacular. This is really wonderful and I'm so glad you blogged it and entered it! BTW, that's exactly how my friend makes her pasta, she learned from her Italian mother-in-law!

Shona B said...

This is such a great idea! I love the quilt and all the pictures have such meaning. The pocket on the back is also such a neat idea. Congrats on making such a lovely meaningful quilt.

Marika said...

Very beautiful quilt work !

Karen said...

What a great memory quilt. Thanks for sharing such precious memories.

marlene@ByTheSeam said...

What a nice family history and how nice that you had those photos your dad took, makes it even better.

quiltmom anna said...

I love your photo quilt- I have made two of them- both of them large wall hangings. They are of my family and my husband's family- One still hangs in my parents home and my husband's hangs in his mother's room at the extended care facility in which she lives. They are well loved - I am sure that your mother treasured her family gallery.
Thanks for sharing your story and quilt- I love the colors in it.
Regards from a Western Canadian Quilter,
Anna
http://quiltmomsjourney.blogspot.com/

Leslie said...

this is so beautiful!!! what a special way to celebrate family

Randi said...

Wow..what a great story & quilt!

Kristen said...

Beautiful quilt! This has a great story behind it too! Thanks for sharing it!

Celine said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks for your lovely comment. I LOVE your tablecloth. It is vibrant and beautiful and the stories associated to it are great. Thanks for sharing so many pictures as it show the details.
I read your blog regularly and have been also very impressed with your so neat pentagon flowers.
Celine in UK

sewtakeahike said...

awesome post! the story behind your quilt/tablecloth is a sweet one!

Eileen said...

wonderful quilt and maervelous story. i love the color, i love the wonkiness and think you did it well. so fun to have all those pictures in it. i made a quilt for my daughter--sort of a match game quilt. she uses it as a table cloth, but covered it with clear plastic--she has six young children after all! they have a lot of fun at dinner looking for matches and thinking of me--could anything be better--good food and good memories

bestjlb said...

I think this quilt is just gorgeous, and I wouldn't change a thing about it! It is my favorite of all the Spring Festival quilts because it touches my heart so. Yesterday was the 11th anniversary of my mother's death, and I guess I am extra sentimental. I love the tribute to have made to your family--especially to your parents!
Janet in KY

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