Hand Sewing

With my love of sewing machines you would think I never pick up a needle and thread for hand sewing. It's almost true but for most projects there is a bit of finishing work that requires hand sewing and I don't object too much. We have been cleaning out my aunt house in Iowa and she has been a crafter and quilter, making items for her church sale every fall. Over the years she made each one of her nieces a quilt that was all hand pieced and quilted. I still have mine:

My quilt from Aunt Marcella, all hand stitched!

and I figure it's about forty years old. My aunt was a big crocheter and we shared patterns as well as recipes: these are things I have treasured and all the more since she can no longer do them. You see, my aunt is slowly yielding to dementia and it has taken away her ability to make spacial judgement. That means following lines when embroidering flour-sack dish towels is tricky, cutting out shapes and patterns becomes difficult, and centering your car on the road is a challenge. Through a series of events and a hospital stay she is now in a nursing home. This was not a choice we wanted for her and she was ready to leave and go home for the first month and then she stopped talking about it, accepted her new quarters, and now has made friends. Come to find out, she was comfortable in her home of sixty years that her husband built for her, but she was very lonely.  The staff all love her and they tell me she is a favorite resident.

As we have gone through her house, taking her clothes and personal items to the nursing home, we have found some great treasures. One has been her tall dresser with craft items. Here's a quilt in the making:

Flower garden quilt blocks

I packaged it up and brought it home and now have started to figure out how it can get finished and enjoyed by her. There were blocks finished, extra pieces of fabric, and even yardage of the white used between the motifs. As I check it over I saw it was all hand pieced and the pieces were small enough that it would have been even more difficult to use a sewing machine. I got out my needle and thread and got to sewing, cutting, sewing some more, until I've come up with this:

Final arrangement of flower blocks

Trying to figure out the edge work has been challenging: how do you finish an uneven edge? My sister said she could use a long arm quilter for the final quilting but I don't want to make the edge any kind of a challenge. It looks like I will have to fill in enough white around the edges to try and make them straight. I think the corners can be rounded and it might be preferred if she is in a wheelchair. I'm excited to finish it and to see if she recognizes it or can remember any of the fabrics.

Adding edges

Three of the sides are about done so I'm taking it with me to sew in the car on the ride down and then I can sew on it during the evening when we are back at the hotel. It can go to my sister who will long arm quilt it and possibly add the binding but might also send it back to me so I can finish the edge.

A project like this gives me great satisfaction because you can see something that was clearly a UFO (Un-Finished Object) that is going to get finished and make someone happy. The quilt will give staff and visitor something to talk about with her. Everyone likes a little positive attention, even when you are not quite sure what all the fuss it about!

Aunt Marcella with the quilt she made over 40 years ago