View Single Post
  #45  
Old August 18th 03, 03:54 PM
Diana Curtis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thank you Bev,
That is so beautiful that you got to learn this wonderful craft at the side
of such loving women. I love the story of the quilt you made for your
parents and how you presented it to them. How ever did you manage to do that
without bursting out laughing??
Thanks again
Diana

--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44
"grbev" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

I joined this group about three months ago and enjoy it very much. I have
been quilting for a long time. My grandmother taught me to hand quilt a

few
months before I married my husband in 1964. My mother had made me a

pieced
pinwheel quilt top for a wedding present and she and my grandmother, Dad,
and I did all the quilting on it. My grandmother was a little Danish

woman
who did beautiful handwork and insisted that I make my stitches very tiny
and even. She would say, "It's good, but not quite good enough." So I
would pick it out and start over. But it did teach me to be a very good
quilter. After my husband and I got out of the Navy and moved to Salt

Lake
City and my three daughters were born, my neighbor (then 30 years older

than
me) got me interested in attending quilting bees with her and I loved to

go.
Because my grandmother had taught me well and I was a fast quilter, I was
invited to many bees because the ladies liked my work. I have made so

many
quilts over the years. I love to draw and design my own patterns. My
favorite quilt is a tricot one because it quilts up so easily and feels so
good to wrap up in. My family loves to get my quilts.

One of my most fond memories of quilt making took place in 1972. My

parents
were about to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. I made a quilt of
appliqued blocks honoring their life together. I drew all the blocks and
painted and appliqued them and set them all together. The quilt turned

out
so well, that I entered it in the large Salt Lake County fair and was
thrilled to win a blue ribbon. I talked my parents into going to the fair
(they had no idea that I had made this special quilt for them). As we
approached the glass case where the quilt was hanging, I could hardly
contain myself. My mother said to my dad, "Look, Honey, here's somebody

who
lived in the same place we did." As they stood and looked at the quilt,

she
said, "They lived in the same house we did.... Oh, it's us!" I will

never
forget how fun that was to surprise them like that. They have passed away
now and I have that quilt that they cherished for so many years (it still
has the blue ribbon pinned on it) and it is tucked away in my mother's

cedar
chest.

In the last 5 years I have devoted much of my life to making quilts for

the
LDS Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake City. I have made over 400 tied

quilts
(these are 9 1/2 inch blocks sewed together and tied with yarn) to be
distributed around the world to those who are in need. I also have

devoted
at least one day a week to work at the Center where I sew together quilt
tops and bottoms that are distributed to volunteers who add batting and

tie
quilts for the Center to distribute. I love doing this work and have

gotten
great satisfaction out of using what I have learned over the years to help
others.

I have been taking a class on learning the Jodi Barrows' method of A

Square
Within A Square. It is a fun concept and is very challenging for me. I
hope to do a lot of pieced quilts in the future. I have not learned to
machine quilt (mostly because I can't afford the expensive machines to do
it) but my great love is hand quilting. I get such joy out of stitching

and
creating a "warm hug" for someone. I am so grateful to my grandmother and
dear friend Carma who taught me to quilt and encouraged me along the way.
What joy and satisfaction it has brought to my life (and in turn, to

others
who share in the fruits of my labors).

From Utah,

Bev Forsling





Ads