Treasured Memories

It's been a sad few days in my family. The sweet little baby in this picture is my Aunt Catherine, my Dad's oldest sister, with my beloved Grandmother. Mary Catherine was her first child. This week, 74 years after this picture was taken the little baby went home to be with her mom and dad. With this picture and many more I have many treasured memories of my dear aunt. I remember my Mom and I going with her to quilting bees at the church and I would sit at the corner of the frame listening and watching. Memories of our families camping out, fishing and going to the races. Big sister and baby brother (my Dad) were always very close so this has been difficult for him, for us all. But despite the sadness, there is no more pain and for that I am grateful.

Thank goodness for air conditioning!

Today was another quilting day at the park and I should have known it was going to be fun when I got in Petey, my PT Cruiser, and saw the temperature was 96 degrees already! ACK! And here I am in a long sleeved, high necked, floor length dress and I'm going to sit outside and quilt for four hours. All I can say is I'm sure glad I didn't get my new dress finished because I have plans for at least one petticoat for that dress. I don't have a petticoat for the old dress so at least it's only one layer of cotton! And you are asking why am I sitting outside to quilt? Normally I sit outside on one of the porches or at the cook house but the houses are air conditioned...well they are supposed to be! I do have a couple of spots inside that I can quilt if the weather is bad but the air conditioning system was not working today so it was just as hot if not hotter inside! So, I sat on the lower porch, in the shade, with a hand fan and bottle of water (discreetly hidden) and quilted to my hearts content while visiting with our guests (and praying for a breeze!).

You've seen some pictures taken of the garden and cook house in a previous post but here is a picture of the main house, the Dickey House, built in 1840 originally on land in Dickey Georgia, near Albany but moved to the park in 1960 and restored. It is a beautiful house. I'll have to go out one day when I'm not supposed to be quilting and get some pictures inside.


I usually sit on the lower porch in one of these beautiful white iron chairs. They are a heavy cast iron but surprisingly quite comforatable. Here is my small quilt challenge on one of the chairs.


These curved brick stairs are one of my favorite features of the house, they are called "Welcoming Arms" stairs as they curve around the porch, like arms welcoming you home. They also serve as a nice backdrop for quilts too, don't you think?


I pieced this pink and brown star quilt at the park in the past couple of years but I haven't taken a good picture of it yet. I wanted to hang it from the top porch but there was no one there to help me today...so the stairs will have to do for now! It is just a top, ready to be quilted but waiting for winter when it's cooler!

When I finished quilting for the day and got back into Petey, the temperature read at 99 degrees! Whew...all I can say is thank goodness for air conditioning.

Small Quilt Challenge

Back to the present...here is my latest finish. I'm a member of a YahooGroup "SmallQuiltTalk" started by Kathleen Tracy, author of the books American Doll Quilts and Prairie Children and Their Quilts. The group is new and Kathy is posting periodic challenges to the group to make a small quilt using a specific pattern and suggested colors. The challenges are really not strict but rather an opportunity to play with patterns and color and perhaps challenge ourselves to do something new. The first challenge deadline was May 28. The colors to use were pink, blue, and green. Although I have all of those colors in my stash and have no problems using them in quilts I really did have a problem getting started on this challenge! In fact, I had decided not to do this challenge. But I kept playing with fabrics until I found four that I thought played well together and off I went. This is probably the quickest I've ever done a quilt, I started on May 16 and finished the binding on May 28 - all hand pieced, hand quilted and bound. It's not perfect but I love it! I need to block it and get a better picture in daylight but for now here is another addition to my future little quilt wall.



All of the quilts that others made were wonderful and each one is very different. It's amazing how the same pattern and color palette can result in such different quilts. If you like to make small quilts please check out the group. The next challenge is not due until the end of July.