LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT SOME FEED SACK QUILTS

This past Saturday, my husband and I drove to Round Top, Texas to attend the first meeting of the Lone Star Quilt Study Group at the Winedale Historical Complex to discuss quilts made from cotton bags, particularly 1930s - 1960s. Here is a little Smilebox slide show of the photos we took at the meeting.  Keep in mind, I am neither a good photographer or reporter, but I am enthusiastic if nothing else.

Picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

There were 50 of us in attendance from all over Texas, all quilt lovers who like to talk about, look at, or feel quilts as often as we can.  I met some lovely ladies and look forward to seeing them at future gatherings.  The next meeting is scheduled for August 25, 2012 in Waxahachie, Texas where the subject will be Pennsylvania antique quilts.  I can't wait!  The Lone Star Quilt Study Group is developing a website where you can get additional information in the future.  There is nothing on the webpage now but the address is http://www.lonestarquiltstudygroup.org.

Although I am not a huge feed sack quilt fan, I feel a strong connection to them because of my Dad’s mother, a rural southwest Texas ranch wife.  They were extremely poor.  Raising Angora goats was not a get rich kind of living.  There was a lot of hard work and a bit of luck involved.  As many ranch women of the 1930s-1960s did, Granny made most of her and her children’s clothing from cotton sack material purchased at the local feed store or grocery store.  She also made quilts using scraps of those fabrics.  She was not a particularly skilled quilt maker.  There were many corners cut off, uneven blocks, poor alignment – but she “made do” with love for her family.

Prior to her death in 1959, Granny made quilt tops for her five grand kids.  Mom had one quilted for my brother.  Years later, I hand quilted the second one for my sister, and the third one I kept un-quilted for myself.  Why, you ask?  Because the scraps of fabric were pieced onto foundation paper – a 1950s era black and white Sears or Montgomery Ward’s catalogue.  I love looking at the house dresses, foundation garments, etc. featured on those pages on the back of that quilt top.  I wouldn’t fix it for the world.

Sammy Welch  1910-1959

Thanks Granny for sharing your love and craft with us.