To follow is a post I wrote about this time of year two years ago. Since then my grandmother has died and I have explained how she made her tied quilts.
I love quilts – they are the ultimate form of recycling and they are just plain WONDERFUL!
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One of my favorite things about this time of the year is that I start using all of my quilts.
I am most fortunate that my grandmother (who is also grandmother to 53 others) loved to make quilts – and I have been a fortunate recipient of two of them. Most of her quilts were “tied” quilts – basically two large pieces of fabric (usually flat sheets) with batting or older blankets that were worn and torn in the middle, and then with her cardboard template she would pull yarn through all the pieces and tie it with a knot, leave about an inch of yarn and cut. Many times I would help her with this. The true skill came in the hemming – all done by hand – and all done in one evening. Her nimble fingers would make quick work of that project. I have one which she did for my 16th birthday and one from my wedding (she didn’t approve, but still sent a quilt). I even have a quilt framing rack just like my grandmother’s that my grandfather made for me before he died, and I really need to take it out, set it up, and start making my own quilts.
I also have a friend who quilts. She made a beautiful quilt for her daughter and when her daughter didn’t want it anymore I offered to take if off her hands. It is the newest and the largest of the quilts I own.
My chosen mother had a number of very old and worn quilts that her mother and grandmother made for her. When she downsized, she gave them to me. I also use these from time to time.
Quilts are comfy and cozy and cause no additional carbon emissions. In many cases, quilts are the ultimate form of recycling. They can be used over and over and provide the same warmth… the heat from the furnace is here, and then gone, and then new heat is generated. Quilts (once purchased or received) are free warmth. They are fun to share with others, too.
So grab a quilt and someone you love and share that heat!


And this is what this looks like now. Of course, you can’t see the new brace boards and I still need to put on a new sill and do some finishing work — but the new 2×4 that was put in fits like a glove. We dated and signed this new piece of wood (it is something we just do from time-to-time when working on home projects).

















