About a month or so ago my neighbor contacted me and asked if I was interested in a box of scraps she had. Her mom had passed away and they were cleaning out the house. I said sure. If I didn’t use them I knew I could find a place for them to go.
I ended up digging through the box and found this…
I almost put it in the charity quilt box but then I thought nope. I think I’m going to fix it up and give it back to my neighbor. I know it’s rough and not the best looking but if this would have been my mom’s I think I would have wanted to keep it.
So I…
trimmed off those ugly sides and cut it down a little bit as it was not proportionate.
As I was working with it I realized that there were a couple of holes. I took those blocks out and replace them with blocks cut from the pink and blue fabric I had cut off the sides.
The more I worked on it the more it grew on me. It was made from old aprons. The black you see on the gingham fabric is chicken scratch stitching.
Here it is on the long arm…
The sewing was pretty wonky. I started to wonder if this was a quilt one of the girls in the family was making as a kid as it was so wonky.
I used the pink from the side to bind it.
Here it is all finished…
I love how the chicken scratch heart ended up in the middle of the quilt!!
It’s not a great work of art but I love its sentimental value. I delivered it to my neighbor last weekend. She seemed happy to have it. I told her if nothing else, to give it to her first great-grandchild as a gift from her mom.
For the backing, I had a piece of pink gingham that I thought would work well. For the binding, there was enough left for the pieces I cut off the sides. All in all…I ended up liking the quirky little quilt.
I was happy to be able to finish it and give it back to the family…it was a simple little project!!
What a lovely gift from the heart. I hope my grandchildren and great grandchildren will remember me through my quilts.
You’re right, Jo, it is a quirky little quilt. It really appeals to me and you were so kind to spend time creating it from a wonky starter! Your neighbour must have been thrilled and it’s a great quilt to keep in the family.
What a lovely thing to do for your neighbour. To me, being wonky and quirky makes it have even more sentimental value.
LOVE LOVE LOVE that you remade this and regifted to the family.
Happy Saturday Jo. Your heart is so big :-)
So sweet!! The bits of chicken scratch are fun.
I loved that, too! My Grandma taught me to stitch chicken scratch on a little apron over 50 years ago. What a sweet gift for your neighbor, Jo!
My grandma stitched this on pillowcases. I didn’t know that it was called chicken scratch. This is a sweet quilt, Jo, we love the imperfections in it.
What a wonderful gift for a grandchild to remember family members. Lovely work on the quilt, Jo.
Love and prayers
You are so kind & thoughtful. Bless you.
Sometimes quilts today are so overwhelmingly beautiful people are afraid to use them as quilts and hang them on the wall instead. That’s breaks my heart. Quilts should be keeping people warm. I hope this quirky quilt will be used not admired or saved for something special. I love that it’s made from old aprons. But what a lot of aprons, and that chicken scratch is really a blast from the past. Love it all! Jo, you really followed through on your inspiration, and the result is brilliant.
Love it! This quilt has so much personality and sweetness. I’m glad you brought it back to life, Jo!
You are such a good person.
A very special quilt indeed! How thoughtful you are to finish this for the neighbor. Hopefully this will give them a good memory as time passes on.
If that quilt could talk I bet it would have a wonderful story to tell. I have never heard of “Chicken Scratch” before, that is a story on its own. Thanks for sharing the quilt is a perfect memory quilt for your neighbor.
I would have done the same thing. I do hope they treasure it.
How so very, very sweet! As Bob Hope would say “thanks for the memories”!
Love that you created this lovely quilt for your neighbor. Perfection can be overrated, I think. I have two quilts from my great grandpa’s youngest sister. They’re not perfect but warm my heart every time I walk by them.
That was so thoughtful and nice of you to do that for your neighbor! The quilt is very sweet!
I love it. What a kind gesture. I hope they see the beauty in it and save it for future generations.