Friday, August 14, 2020

Grandma's Apron Strings


Grandma's Apron Strings
It's a top!
75 x 87



How time flies!  I can't believe I started making these blocks back in May 2015. 


The block is called Wheel of Fortune and can be found in the book History Repeated.  Grandma's Apron Strings is my version of that Wheel of Fortune quilt you see on the cover but my quilt has more blocks. 


I used kitchen themed fabrics. I used to make sets of potholders, embroidered dish towels and crocheted dish cloth as Christmas gifts and liked to use kitchen themed fabrics for the potholders. I usually bought 1/2 yard of those fabrics and a potholder didn't take up much so I thought I might as well make a quilt of them. 

I had a pale yellow for the background fabrics in my stash because I had bought that color by mistake when I needed a little darker shade of yellow to finish off a different quilt. And the crazy thought went through my mind that I should use yellow with kitchen fabrics because most of the kitchens I could remember from my younger days were yellow. Sometimes even the appliances were yellow. 



And then we come to the sashing. Somewhere along the line when I was remembering kitchens I thought of grandma (who also taught me to quilt and embroider and all sorts of other useful things) and apron strings and then my mind wandered off to chicken scratch that was on a few of her aprons and I knew that I had to somehow incorporate chicken scratch into the quilt so into the sashing some chicken scratch went.  And you know I love gingham too so it was meant to be. I did have some turquoise cotton gingham with 1/4 inch squares in my stash that was intended for a backing that I ended up using even though I wasn't sure it was the right color for the quilt but in the back of my mind I heard grandma telling me to go ahead and use what I have. So I did. I chicken scratched off and on for a few years on that sashing and just when I thought I had done enough and was ready to assemble the quilt I found out I was only about 2/3 done and had to do more. And that's how time flies, I guess.  And another time while the mind was wandering I thought those X cornerstones looked kind of, maybe a little bit, like crossed apron strings in back. 


The silly thing is that I just ran off and made blocks out of whatever kitchen themed fabrics I had and did not give any thought of color or value. So when it came time to put it all together I thought I should have thought about that but now it's too late so move forward, you silly girl. So I decided on kind of alternating dark and light blocks and ended up making a few more blocks just to make a layout like that all work out. You know I usually sew blocks together randomly but this time I had to arrange them on my design floor. 

And you remove that quilt top from the clothesline and you can see that after several days of clean up after the derecho we still have some clean up to do. But some things we cannot do. Those are low hanging branches that almost reach the gound from...

...that branch on high. 

Hopefully there's blue skies and sunshine ahead! 
I'm off to have a great day. Hope you are too. 


 

25 comments:

Kat Scribner said...

Just WOW. Fantastic quilt !

maggie fellow said...

that is a wonderful quilt

cityquilter grace said...

very nice quilt and inspiration story

Quilting Babcia said...

Gorgeous quilt, so worth all the time and effort, and so full of memories.

audrey said...

Fabulous looking quilt CAthy! Looks so good. Just love that sashing so much!

Nancy said...

You finished it! And it looks fabulous, Cathy.. I love the Wheel of Fortune block pattern (which is on my to-make list) and I think it looks especially good with your kitchen fabrics. The apron-strings cornerstones add so much. I love your persistence over time, continuing to work on a quilt even when it may take 3 or 4 years in the process. Well done!

Libby in TN said...

What fun focus fabrics!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Amazing piece of work - so much thought and meaning in those stitches. It's lovely! Hope you can find a good tree person to help you with those high branches!

Linda said...

Your Chicken scratch stitching caught my attention from when you first blogged about it because it was new to me. So, to see how you have progressed this quilt is a fabulous journey. Love grandma’s crossed apron strings too - perfect,

Jean MaDan said...

Well,I love the whole quilt of course, but that block really intrigues me! I may have to do that in 30s fabrics (if I ever get done with what I'm working on now!) Very nice!

Quilter Kathy said...

That is so so awesome... I just love it!
Great blocks, fun theme, really cool sashings... swoon!

The Joyful Quilter said...

Congrats on getting your Apron Strings quilt top together, Cathy! It holds quite a story. Happy quilting!

MissPat said...

What a delight. The gingham chicken scratch give it a vintage feel. Such a lot of time invested in this quilt, but so worth it.
Pat

Jenny said...

Lovely to read your story and the family thoughts behind this quilt. I love that you did all that chicken srcatch embroidery for the sashing in honour of your grandmother, that makes it really special indeed.

Gretchen Weaver said...

What a fantastic finish! I can't wait to see how you decide to quilt it. Your grandmother would be so pleased. Happy stitching!

Vivian said...

Wow, love it! Love the kitchen themed prints and a great use of the pot holder leftovers. I love the 19C Divas projects and ironically I had just recently put a quilt with this same star block on my "To Do" list. The one I'll do is the "Shimmering Snow" quilt from Edyta Sitar's "Patches of Blue" book using blue cottons and batiks. Love knowing this block looks good with novelty prints too!

darlynn said...

Another winner! great idea with the chicken scratch for sashing. i too remember mom and grandma wearing aprons with the old familiar embroidery. they saved those for Sunday as they were a little more fancy than their regular fabric daily wear.

Ann said...

Absolutely lovely design and color choices. Blue gingham and chicken scratch and soft yellow work so well with your wide variety of prints. They do evoke our grandmothers.
Congratulations on sticking with it. I remember when you realized you still had more scratching to do.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

So fun to read about how you got all your ideas for this quilt, and also see how it came together! It really is beautiful. Wishing you blue skies and sunshine, too!

Emily said...

This is so amazing! I've seen your "chicken scratch" sashings when you've shown them but didn't really put together what they were going into. I love all the details in this, and I do think the white Xs in the setting squares look like crossed apron strings!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

Wow! 2015? I remember when you started these blocks. I adore how the quilt turned out.

Isn't it fun being a gardener...You just think you have things all tidy and Mother Nature comes through and say "Nope!"

Louise said...

This one was a long time coming, and worth the wait! Your Grandma would be proud :)

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Oh my!! this one is just stunning!!!

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

Congratulations on a stunning finished top! The setting is fabulous.

Robin said...

Delightful quilt. There is just something about true blue sashing that gives a quilt that vintage feel. Nice work!