Mummy's Stitches

Just three pictures today. 

I have now removed all the "papers" from Mummy's quilt, except those on the very edge.  I have been struck with how much Mummy's stitches have varied.  I know my own stitching varies, the stitches usually getting larger as the day goes on.  

Mummy could be described as a perfectionist in many things, and was a beautiful watercolourist, yet her stitches could be quite erratic.  

A friend at Country Roads Quilts this week summed it up by saying she was "just getting the material sewn together".  The quilt is typical of the origins of quilting, made up of what was available and stitched together to provide covering and warmth, quickly.  I remember Mummy saying she didn't intend the quilt to cost her a penny.  Some hexagons are tacked with up to three pieces of cotton so I think she must have been recycling thread as well as fabric.  

I can imagine some of the stitches done at leisure, some in poor light, some maybe in anger for some reason.  My sestra wondered whether we should remove the papers in order in case there was a message in them.  No message, as such, but those stitches seem full of life and meaning.

We had a wonderful holiday in Mexico to celebrate 25 years of unwedded bliss, Al and I would both go as far as to say it was a perfect holiday.  We completely relaxed, enjoyed good food and the glorious setting of our hotel on the Caribbean Sea.  Now we are home and it is definitely Winter and I have been sewing enthusiastically.  

I have finished the koi wall hanging that I've been working on for a while.

My sister came for a visit and she has recently started patchwork.  Her first major project is a wedding sampler quilt for her daughter.  The wedding is in August 2017 so Jane's going to be busy.  While she was here we had a good look at Mummy's quilt.  You might remember this is an English paper-pieced "Grandmother's Flower Garden" quilt.  Mummy was determined that it was to be all recycled fabrics, in the traditional way.  I had thought I might do something dramatic with it but when we laid it out on the guest bed it looked just right so I am simply going to finish it.

My first job is to remove a lot of the papers to reduce the weight and make the quilt easier to work with.  I say "papers" but they are actually more of "cards" being cut from Christmas and birthday cards and art and education supplies catalogues.  The fabrics are a real mixture, a lot of furnishing weight and the plain is all curtain lining.  Fortunately I also inherited a box full of extra hexagons and fabric.  Alan and I have been sitting in companionable silence, with our thoughts, unpicking Mummy's tacking stitches.

Some news resulting from my sister's recent visit is that she has decided to join me when I visit Japan next year.  Golly, it's been a few years since we've shared a bedroom!!  We're both really excited about it, or rather, Jane was excited, until I explained about onsen etiquette!!  Still, she'll rock the karaoke experience while I'm hiding in the corner.  And, speaking of holidays, here's a quick reminder that only a few weeks ago we were enjoying temperatures of 30+° C rather than today's 2°C.