Latest Projects

My latest two sewing projects:

I made Granny a little comfort pillow for her birthday. The fabric just looked like her. I thought about adding a little rick rack edging or something, but I just didn't think it needed any more busyness. Now, looking at it again, I think a little old fashioned lace would have been nice and in keeping with the style of the fabric.

And here is my first attempt at a quilt. Baby Justus's mommy loves orange, and I had her in mind! It is about the simplest quilt you could possibly make, which is what I was going for since 1.) it was my very first one, and 2.) baby Justus was already born, and I wanted to get him his blanket ASAP.
I bought the materials to make a red edging, but I ended up nixing the idea because of time. However, it took me just as much time to do it this way, so now I think I should have made the edging to break up the orange a bit.
Anyway, even though I'm still learning, I am still proud of my projects!

Speaking of quilts, I talked to Granny today to wish her Happy Birthday (Happy B-day again, Granny!), and I asked her what Momo used for batting inside of her quilts. Momo was my great-grandmother, Granny's mother. I asked what Momo used in her quilts because they are all incredibly heavy. I was actually surprised and somewhat disappointed when I picked up the batting at the quilting store because it was so lightweight and thin, and I knew my quilts could not possibly have the feel that Momo's did. I always liked how Momo's quilts were so weighty and made you feel all cozy and hemmed in when you climbed into a bed with one on it.

Granny told me that Momo would actually take cotton bolls, pull the cotton away from the seed, stretch it out, and use it inside her quilts. Momo lived her whole life in rural Mississippi, where cotton was plentiful but money wasn't, so cotton bolls were the best thing for using inside of quilts because it made them very warm. It was time-consuming and tedious, but it was necessary. Granny commented that the quilts were not for looks; they were for keeping you as warm as possible.

I just thought that was a really neat piece of my family history.