Grandma's Aprons

This quilt contains feed sack fabrics from the 1930's and contemporary muslin.  It started with a piece of my grandmother's apron.  The apron was well-used and spotted from decades of cooking and baking. Looking at this quilt, I can picture Gram baking oatmeal bread, a weekly tradition, or preparing vegetable fresh from the garden..  She grew a garden that fed the two of us, extended family, the milkman, neighbors, the postman and anyone who happened to stop by for a visit during a harvest.  She knitted gorgeous sweaters; white sweaters for christenings, chicks marching across the front when a child started walking, winter sweaters with deer to keep teens warm, and Irish cables when you reached adulthood.  Some of my earliest memories are of playing with bits and pieces of cloth she gave me from the garments she made on her little black and gold Singer featherweight machine; wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses for cousins, outfits for me with matching outfits for my Barbie.  She was a utilitarian version of Martha Stewart, on a strict budget! 

The collection of feed sacks came from my mom who scoured estate sales in Pennsylvania, numerous visits over the years to Brimfield, the generosity of quilting friends, as well as my Gram's apron. 

I've long since forgotten which fabric was Gram's apron.  That bothered me until I arrived at the conclusion that any woman who collected feed sack fabrics before me would probably be pleased with the current use of their fabric.  That generation repurposed, recycled and reused whatever they could out of necessity rather than from any efforts to be green or environmentally prudent.

Grandma's Aprons is dedicated to Marjorie Ivy Daubney.  She lived in quiet dignity, made the most of anything she was fortunate enough to have and shared with great amounts of love. I continue her tradition of sewing by quilting.