It's funny how sometimes projects that were not even on the radar zoom to the top of my list. I visited my 99-year-old grandmother this summer and she told me to take whatever I wished from her fabrics, she no longer can sew and would like them to be used if possible. Among her fabrics, I found 30 4" squares sewn together into a block, and a stack of 100 more of the print blocks. I took those, wondering what she had in mind when they were all cut by hand. She no longer remembers what she planned to make.
My cousin moved in with her several years ago to be her caretaker, and he has done a good job enabling Nana to live on her farm for the remainder of her life. I suddenly had an inspiration to put the squares together as a quilt for my cousin. I wanted to keep it fairly simple, with large patches of blocks like Nana had started, and keep it masculine. Her block had the red and blue print in no particular order, so I made my blocks random as well. I found a similar blue to mix with the prints, and a nice stripe that blended. I made twelve 20" bordered blocks for the quilt. The upper right block in the photo is her original blue. It was very peaceful to sew her blocks, I remembered all the times I sewed with Nana as a young girl and my happy childhood memories of time at her farm.
The top and back are all sewn together now, I just need to visit my friend and her Gammill to quilt it. I hope to finish it for my cousin's October birthday, and before my grandmother turns 100 in November.
