Trip Around the World and other vintage quilts

 We went to our new JoAnn's location yesterday.  It's bigger, it's brighter, and the first time I was there, it was crowded with helpful staff.  This time, it was not and looked as picked over as the old store location did.  But, that's okay, we managed to find everything we needed.  Most of my sewing time was on my new shirt.  The class I took last Monday wasn't very helpful, except she had a new way to set in a collar and I think I ended up with the neatest collar stand I've ever made.  I tried to take a picture, but it needs a press before I share it.  I added some size to the shirt for comfort and as I was making it, I made additional adjustments.  Now I need to transfer all that to the pattern.  And, while we were at JoAnn's, I bought a piece of fabric for another shirt for more practice.  

Anyway, what I have to share is quilts.  These are some of the vintage quilts I own, inherited from both sides of my family.  

I believe these first quilts all came from my Mom's side.  They're all the same pattern and if I had to guess, made by the same person.  I believe they all have whipped field cotton battings.

This one was in our home when I was a child.  It has a couple of loosely woven fabrics that have shredded, but for the most part, it's in good shape.  

This one is in the best shape and I love the brown "sashing" with the blue back and binding.

This is famously known as the quilt Dad put under the car to lay on while he changed the oil.  It has a very loosely woven fabric in 28 of the blocks that is shredded.  I collected all the fabrics to repair it once and then decided that maybe this quilt just needs to live out it's life with the oil spot and the holes in the backing and the shredded fabric in the top.  It's still a pretty quilt.  

My Mom made both my sisters quilts and used this same pattern.  The fabrics in this quilt were partly from my both my sisters' clothes and some borrowed from other sewers.  

My Dad's family seemed to lean to more utility quilting, with very heavy thick cotton batting.  

My Mom and Dad used to live on a lake and the wall that faced the lake was mostly windows and sliding doors.  The room we stayed in was freezing and I went to the cabinet to look for cover and pulled out this very heavy quilt.  We were snug as a bug in a rug.

Not sure who made this one.  I've only seen the pattern once and believe it's sunflower in a star.  Between each of the star points is a flower petal that unfolds.  

My Mom made this quilt for me.  I recognize many of the fabrics in it from clothes she made.  

And, my great Grandmother made this one for me when I was about 15.  It's double knit top, polyester batting and a poly knit back and at the end of the world, when everyone is huddled in caves for shelter, this is the quilt I'm taking when we abandon the house.  It will last forever and is very, very (very, very) warm.  She pieced the top and then sent it to the ladies at the Methodist church and they hadn't quilted it for her for $5.  She used to buy knit scraps from a local mill in huge bags and pieced this pattern over and over and gave them all away.

This is a quilt I bought.  One day, I hope to pull it out and redo some things about it so I can enjoy it more.  I really need to take out the blue marker and I'd like to replace the pansy appliqué center that I've seen on the internet used with tie quilts and use circles instead.  Mostly, I need to wet the top to take out the blue washout quilt marking that's still there and definitely re-quilt it.  One day.  When there's nothing else to do.  

Rob and I went to a work dinner the other night.  We got all dressed up and looked great and didn't take any pictures...we said we would, but didn't think about it after we were dressed.  It was a fun evening, and everyone was anxious to meet Rob and lots of funny stories were told and lots of laughter.  It's always nice to be with people away from the office and we managed to talk about almost nothing work related.  I realized that I've become very socially awkward after the pandemic and need to get out more and work on that.  

Everybody have a great Monday!  Just because it's old doesn't mean it's junk.  I hold many precious memories and momentums of them and most of them are things I will have until my memory is done.  

Lane