The Journey So Far

The Chester Criswell quilt was made for Mary McClellan Criswell for her marriage to Jesse Jackson Smith on 17th November 1852. It took pride of place on the new Mr. and Mrs. Criswell's bed until it became too shabby to use.  The quilt was then folded up and put away in a cupboard.
Mary's youngest daughter Marion inherted the quilt.  A change in the family fortune meant that Marion had to seek employment.  She gained work as a seamstress, moving from household to household making wedding trousseaus.  She used a silver thimble and a small pair of scissors which she left to her daughter, also named Marion, when she died in 1962.
This second Marion had a lovely thimble and scissors of her own so she kept her mother's thimble and scissors safe until she gave them to her granddaughter.
Which is me.


Using Marion's thimble and scissors in my first repro block.

I was a little girl when I was first shown the 'family quilt'.  It was in a cupboard in the garage, next to the ice chest  my grandparents had in their first home.  I wasn't very interested in quilts so I didn't pay much attention.
Fortunately I did become interested in quilts and all sorts of crafts.  My parents moved our family from Ohio to Australia in the early 1970s.  My grandmother brought the quilt with her on one of her visits to Australia because she though I was more interested in it than my cousins.
I decided about eight years ago it was time to make a reproduction quilt before the original totally fell to pieces.  Every year or so I would unwrap it and think, I should really do this. 
What was holding me back?  All that needleturn applique.  I began making quilts for my dolls and now make quilts for my grandchildren.  I have managed to avoid applique almost entirely and now I had to try it. 
I felt that that famous fictional anonymous hero...

And what did I find?  It wasn't so bad after all!  Hand applique was actually quite enjoyable.  There's room for improvement but the result isn't too bad.