Quilts

My extended family has a big 4th of July celebration every summer, spanning 2-3 days. Last year's party included a little family history showcase, and that's where I saw my great-grandma's quilts for the first time. They got me right in my heart, big time. She had crazy quilts made from scraps and more refined ones in united color themes. I didn't know these quilts existed, didn't know this had been such an endeavor for her -- didn't know her at all, actually, since she died a handful of years before I was born. This is her as a teenager:

great-grandma Carma

Seeing her quilts sparked a little thing in me, a desire to learn how to do what she did, what so many women in my family have done (and also my dad, who is an enthusiastic hobbyist and did patchwork quilts for a few years when I was a kid).

I cornered one of my great-aunts a few days later and made her teach me Carma's signature embroidery stitch -- the crow's foot stitch; she used it to finish all of her quilts, between each swatch of fabric. And over the following months, I started saving fabrics I thought I'd want to use on a quilt of my own (clothes I didn't wear anymore, mostly) and pinning to a Pinterest board full of quilting techniques, patterns, and tricks.

And now, more than a year later, some stuff is coming together.

cutting up an old shirt

my starter materials, all from shirts I culled from my wardrobe -- I used these to make half-triangle squares by combining two squares, sewing down the middle on the diagonal, and cutting them apart

figuring out a disorganized pattern -- I'm partial to disorganized things

more fabrics from a flannel shirt, a floral apron, and a 70s dress