Family Quilt History

Stashbuster Topic of the Week:
How did you come to start quilting? Was it passed down in the family?

I have written before about my introduction to quilting in this post. There is no one in my family who sews or quilts, and I have always been envious of quilters who have a long family history of quilting. (I did have an aunt who was a knitter, and she taught me how to knit mittens.) The only quilts we have are those made by me, with one exception. My mother-in-law was encouraged by her 90 something neighbour to make this queen size quilt for us for our wedding (this quilt is now 23 years old). I think it is called a Dresden Plate and was made from the scrap bag of the neighbour. My mother-in-law did not enjoy it, had never quilted before and has never quilted since then! But she did make one beautiful masterpiece! Here is a close up of the blocks...all bright and happy colours. We used this quilt on our bed all the time before we had a dog. Now it rests mostly on a quilt rack because I don't want it to be exposed to any more damage. It has some spots where it is worn and the binding has been mended. See the wonderful hand quilting... and the pencil marks are still visible in some places. On the right is the border quilting and on the left is the quilting between the plates.