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"Heritage" Quilt

Deann

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Deann Advanced Member

Deann

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I just finished my 3rd (and final) heritage quilt. Here’s the story behind it: My mother-in-law was one of 19 children. When she married and was to have her 1st child, her mother made her a quilt. My MIL helped her mother in future years to make the same quilt for all the siblings on the arrival of their first child. When my oldest sister-in-law was expecting, my MIL continued the tradition in her family. My husband is the youngest of 8, so when we were expecting, someone mentioned “the Quilt” but I never saw any work in progress (She hid it whenever we came back for a weekend). On Christmas Eve, 1973, I opened the package (three weeks before the birth of our first daughter) and I stared in wonder and surprise at “the Quilt”! The center is an 8 pointed star, cross hatching finishing out the corners, and edged with double hearts and bound with lace on hand quilted on white satin!! When my in-laws passed away and the family had an auction, I asked my husband to just get me a box of Grandma’s sewing stuff. I am the only daughter-in-law or daughter to do any sewing. Looking thru the box later, my husband asked if I knew what I had gotten in my box. My reply was “just some crafting stuff, I think”. He looked at me and said he thought I had the template to “the Quilt”’s edging. Sure enough, I had the template she had made and used for the heart edging. He just said, “Must be a sign”. So as our three daughters have had their first child, I have made “the Quilt” for each family. This year the last of our daughters is to have her first child – due on Christmas Eve! My MIL said “Use it; it’ll wash” and I did; however, my girls just use theirs at the Baptism – they don’t carry babies like we did! Thru the years we have wondered if any of her siblings continued the tradition: with large families there could be quite a few of them floating around, but I have my doubts that that happened”

I now have an APQS Discovery and have wondered about making the pattern to do it by machine but I don’t have a clue about marketing, etc. So I am probably going to put the template to rest in my cedar chest with very special memories!

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ffq-lar Advanced Member

ffq-lar

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That beautiful quilt and it\'s wonderful story brought tears to my eyes! What a treasure! If you want, measure carefully and draft the pattern of stitching on graph paper (in miniature). As you know, many wonders are done with CAD programs and CQ....I\'m sure someone here can direct you to a way to plot this pattern. It needs to be passed along, don\'t you think? It is a beautiful heirloom!

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Sandra Darlington Advanced Member

Sandra Darlington

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Oh, my, such a beautiful story, and a beautiful quilt.

Here is a tradition a friend of mine\'s family does: They use the bride\'s wedding gown to make a Christening dress for the first baby. The slip for the Christening dress has the full name and date of birth (or date of the Christening, not sure) embroidered on it for that baby and is then used for all the babies born into the family and the additions have their names and dates embroidered on it, too. Then, years later, the dress can be passed to the next generation. She also keeps a family tree, in the box with the dress, so the explanations go along with the dress. I thought this was a wonderful idea, although I didn\'t know about it when I had my children.

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quiltmonkey Advanced Member

quiltmonkey

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What an heirloom and treasure and such a special tradition to pass on! Truly, quilts and traditions like these are the simple and true things that bind families with strong, solid foundations. So lovely. Thank you for sharing.

PS: If you don\'t know how to draft a pattern and wish to, I am sure you could put your feelers out and someone out there in this WWOQ (wonderful world of quilting) that has lots of experience designing patterns and would gladly do it for you.

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Deann Advanced Member

Deann

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Thank you all for looking. I gave the quilt to my daughter on Saturday. :) Her husband is an NCN tool and die worker and he sat down with a few dimensions and auto Cad and within an hour he had a scale drawing of the quilt, so I have my pattern quest that far....

Thanks again.

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Jeannine Advanced Member

Jeannine

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Beautiful and perfect for a new baby. What a tradition. Sure hope your daughters will carry on the tradition. I have two daughters and neither of them sew. My hubby always says "when you die, so dies the quilting". I keep hope that they will come around someday. I take them to quilt shows with me so they can see the amazing work that can be done.

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Judi Advanced Member

Judi

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Deann - Welcome to the Forum! Thanks for posting such a sweet and

loving story - and the quilt is just beautiful! You should submit it to one of

the quilting magazine.... that would be great if they published it! Such love

in your family - good to hear about!!!

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