Sunday, March 5, 2023

What's In The Hoop?

What's in the hoop?

Shirts and Giggles
76 inches square
Top finished in March 2019.
Inspired by a vintage quilt.
Made with thrift store shirts (shirts) and fabrics I thought might look like dresses my grandmother wore back in the day (giggles) - 1930s reproduction fabrics. 

My grandmother who taught me to sew used old clothes to make her quilts and I used to love to look at all the fabrics. Sometimes she would tell me stories about the fabrics - "that used to be Uncle Leo's shirt and then later I cut it up to make a shirt for your Dad" (13 years younger than his brother Leo) or "your Aunt Betty made that dress to wear to a dance and many dances thereafter then she handed it down to your Aunt Elsie and later I made an apron out of it".  


Big stitch hand quilting with perle blanc #12.


And sew on...


 

18 comments:

Jill said...

A cozy, comfy quilt! Big stitches and plaids seem to compliment one another. Nice flying geese!

Gretchen Weaver said...

Such a lovely quilt, the quilting is perfect! Happy stitching!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

nice antique looking quilt with all those plaids and prints

Julierose said...

Lovely quilt in the hoop! My Grand-mere used to make over shirts and dresses for the younger ones, too. She was an amazing sewist!! So nice to have a quilt so full of memories for you...hugs, Julierose

Linda said...

Lots of stories sewn into this quilt. Will you keep it along with a note about those family stories? You should. Enjoy the hand quilting. Don’t think you can beat plaids especially if they originated as shirts!

Angela said...

Great stories and memories. I love the title!

Chantal said...

Great quilt! Thanks for the link to the original post as I haven't seen it. I see from the information in your post that you decided to keep it square. Good decision in my book as I love how it looks the way it is. I've also noticed that you didn't add as many corner square blocks as in the inspirational quilt. It finishes the quilt better, like a nice frame. The original one has corner squares that aren't in the corners at all, too funny but gorgeous nonetheless. Enjoy! ;^)

Juliana said...

What a wonderful quilt! It looks just like something my grandmother would have made.

grammajudyb said...

It’s a great quilt , Cathy! Love the name too! ;). I clicked back to the original post. Thanks for sharing!

CathieJ said...

Your stitching with memories of your grandmother. This is a wonderful quilt.

Karrin Hurd said...

What a wonderful quilt, and way to remind you of your grandmother! Happy stitching!

Quilting Babcia said...

I always love to see the inspiration quilts that inspire current creations. And knowing the history behind your grandmother's fabrics and quilts makes this one even more special. It must be a joy every time you pick it up to add more stitches.

Ivani said...

Lovely post, Cathy and l love your quilt and hand quilting. Just beautiful.

Astrid said...

Fabulous quilt and I love the big stitch hand quilting. Love your grandmother's stories too, wonderful memories.

Mystic Quilter said...

Shirts and Giggles is a super, super title for the quilt!!

Anonymous said...

The stories behind the fabrics make the quilt more interesting! Gail at the Cozy Quilter

Linda Swanekamp said...

Your handwork adds so much to the fabric and it is all so cozy.

Jenny said...

This is a very special quilt full of memories!