Friends Across the Sea

 

A family memento.  Here's the story the quilt owner told:

This quilt was made for us by our friend Shelia in England.  It was given to us as a thank you gift for housing her daughter one summer.  Her daughter, Sally, was twenty years old and wanted very much to work one summer in the Chicago area.  Our youngest son was staying at college that summer, so we had an extra bedroom.  We spent a delightful summer with Sally who quickly became our English "daughter".  We later attended Sally's wedding in Broughton, England.  Sally has made subsequent trips here so that we could meet her children. We treasure the quilt as a reminder of wonderful times.

The dedication is embroidered on a Log Cabin block appliquéd on the back.  It is dated 1991.

And as with any date-inscribed quilt, it's also a fine record of fabrics available, in England, at this time.  

An Amazing Day at an Auction ~ Quilt Rescue!

 Beautiful Windmills, 1930s;  lovely, fine quilting.  

Tried hard to win, but lost to the antique dealer.

What follows is a guest post by one of my readers.  I think of it as a cautionary tale about what wonders can be lost without a bit of research into the proper care of antiques.  She had the good luck and good sense to help rescue an amazing and amazingly mistreated quilt collection.  I am grateful to her for the time she has taken to share her story here.  (The photos were taken when the quilts were on display, before the "disaster".)

After reading this sad tale, I hope you'll join me in thanking her for giving it the happiest ending possible.

Three Pine Trees

The quiltmaker's name was Jeanette Cooper.  She was the second wife of the owner's great-grandfather, Herbert Dudley.  His first wife had died in childbirth and Jeanette was employed as the housekeeper.  She then married Herbert, and the owner's grandmother was their only child.  Jeanette died just two weeks before the owner's mother was born, in July 1933.

An additional family story tells that Jeanette's stepmother had tried to poison her when she was a child!  She certainly added some interesting tales to the family "story book."