Back To The Future Crafts-My Mother's Afghan Blanket . 1979

I just love this afghan that my mother made for me.  I was in my third year of college around 1979 when I rented a house with two friends.  My mother made this decorative afghan for me and I put it on a gold easy chair I had in the living room.  














When I moved home after college it stayed in our living room on the same gold chair then eventually it made it to our family's farm to decorate one of the beds (even though it is a little small for that).

It has giant tassels at each corner, a decorative fan motif and lacy details within it and along the edges.  My grandmother taught me to knit and crochet and my mother helped while I was learning so I knew my mother could knit and crochet.  I never knew how well she could do it though.  

Every time I see the afghan I think of her.  I don't know what the cut off is in deciding if an afghan is vintage or not so I will refrain from calling this vintage, but it is 38 years old.

Back To The Future "Vintage" Crafting Series-Bed Quilt and Lap Quilt

Lapquilt folded in quarters

  I am starting a series called Back to the Future Crafts.  I want to document vintage crafted items made by family members, as well as previously (not so long ago) crafted items I have made.  There will be quilts, clothing, crafts, crocheted blankets, watercolors, and even some vintage feed sacks.  I will not feature paper crafts since that has been the main focus of this blog until now.  Some items will be from back in time, some in the present time, and some from times in between. Doing this will also hopefully inspire me to get out my sewing machine and start creating more.  I love to sew but since getting married and raising children I have seldom sat down to sew.  This is something I would like to remedy.

Details of "cheater" patchwork detail

I am starting with two fairly recent and well loved (I.E.worn out) items.  This first is a cheater lap quilt that I made for my dear MIL.  She had Multiple Sclerosis and was home bound.  She spend most of the day in an electric recliner in front of the television.  Her feet always got cold and she would nap in the chair so I made her a lap quilt.  

Details of quilted stitching

Because my children were little and I was working full time as well as being a Girl Scout leader, I didn’t have enough time to make a pieced quilt for her so I found fabric that had the look of a patchwork quilt, pinned it to some batting and a backing, quilted it and put a binding on it.  I told her I would eventually make her a real quilt for her bed but unfortunately that didn’t happen before she passed away.  I have had that cheater quilt for four years now and I use it every day while using the same recliner she sat in.  My small dog has tried to bunch it up into a bed from time to time when I leave the chair and has accidentally torn some small holes in it which I have just sewn shut without attempting to do an immaculate repair.  It still works and I am not ready to part with it.

The second item I would like to share is a bed quilt.  My mother made all of the quilt squares for the patchwork top but did not put it together before she passed away.  My brother was close to my Mom and lived alone and I thought that if I put it together as a quilt for him it would bring him some comfort.  As I was putting the quilt top together I noticed some errors she made (imperfect sizes, part of the square had the design inverted, etc.).  My mother and I would always comment that no one is perfect and there needed to be something imperfect about the quilt so God would know you weren't full of yourself. I was so amused when putting that quilt top together though because I kept thinking about how God must have known she was not perfect by all the mistakes she made.  It gave me the giggles.  I managed to add fabric to the squares that were imperfect in size and just kept the designs that were "off" as they were.  It really doesn't distract from the overall look of the design.  My brother was THRILLED with the quilt and used it and I imagined him being comforted by it.  (My mother died in late August 2000 and I had it finished for that Christmas).  My brother unexpectedly passed away 9 years later at the age of 49 and I again came into the possession of that quilt.

     

I have slept with that quilt ever since.  My dog also has tried from time to time to bunch it up into a bed and has accidentally ripped holes in it which I have repaired as best as I can.  It is well loved, but still usable.  I didn't want to tuck this quilt away for safe keeping.  Quilts are meant to be used.  It is nice to save a few quilts to hand down as heirlooms such as the feed sack quilts I have that were made by my great grandmother, or the baby quilts my mom made for my daughters.  The emotion that went into the making of this quilt and the memories it holds for me personally mean that I will use it until it is no longer usable.  I expect to make more quilts that my children can save if they wish, but I would be just as happy if they used them and loved them.

Full size quilt folded in half