Friday, March 17, 2017

Of Irish Ancestry


Sometimes it's a holiday that helps me decide which of the gazillion UFOs I should work on. 
I made some 6 inch Nine Patches for my Emerald Isle quilt.  

Have I mentioned that my paternal ancestors were Irish? 
My maiden name was JOYNT. 

 I'm a descendant of David Joynt and Bridget McDermott of Ashfield Demesne, Beagh Parish, Galway, Ireland. 

(Genealogy has also been one of my hobbies starting way back even before there was a public internet, home PCs, Ancestry.com and back when  most microfilm readers were hand cranked). 

Did you notice the little Leprechaun in the nine patches? 
The employees I've supervised all these years gave him to me in lieu of a retirement card and they signed the back.  I was lucky to have hardly any turnover of employees...in fact most employees I've hired have worked for me anywhere from 10-25 years. I'll miss them. 

I have a little knickknack shelf of Irish whimsy and the Leprechaun has now joined the group. 


Well, anyway, back to the 9 patches and the Emerald Isle quilt. 


It's the center medallion of my Emerald Isle quilt celebrating my Irish ancestry.  The next part of the quilt involves lots of green nine patches.  

Here's a photo of the ancestral home in 1959...


...and here it is in 1976.    

Happy  St. Patrick's Day ! 


6 comments:

Quiltdivajulie said...

How fun to see your free pieced Irish ancestral home again and your progress on the Emerald Isle quilt.

Julierose said...

Oh how neat--my Mom and I traveled to Ireland in 2001 on a bus tour- We are Irish (and French) we had such a great time--my husbands' family name is Holleran and we saw a whole lot of signage with that name on it...your house pictures bring it all back..I made a picture quilt using photos I took
to commemorate our trip . Hugs, julierose

Janie said...

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I've got Irish in me, Reilly on my mom's side.
That 's a great idea for a quilt you're working on.
Fun pictures, Thanks for sharing.

Kaja said...

I remember your ancestral home block - what a cool way to use it (and lovely to see it again).

Quilter Kathy said...

What a wonderful project to recreate your home and your ancestry!
I enjoyed a wonderful St. Patrick's Day too!
I sprayed my hair green and attended two parties!

Cat said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE - I have Irish blood running through my veins also . . . convict blood but Irish all the same