Nov. Journal Quilt_ From Granny to Rie

My November journal quilt celebrates the passing of traditions, skills, and loves from generation to generation; specifically from Granny to me (Francie Rie, my childhood nickname). I used vintage fabrics and ephemera from Granny's stash to construct this fabric collage, the only non-vintage item is the chicken button, but for Granny I had to include a chicken.

The background fabric is two three pound muslin sugar sacks from the Crystal Sugar Company factory in Rocky Ford, Colorado (my birthplace). Poppa worked at the factory and Daddy raised sugar beets for it on the farm. Granny would bleach out the text on the sacks and use the muslin in her quilts. The last two that I found in her quilting stuff have been very precious to me and I've known that someday I'd find a way to use them meaningfully. I made no effort to remove the age stains from the sacks because I didn't want to fade the labels any more than they already were.

The top border is a remnant of a pieced border that was left over when a quilt was finished. The Log Cabin fabrics were pieces from her stash and frame a four generation photo of Gramma Graham, Granny Corf, Mom Evy, and baby Francie Rie (short for Marie, which my cousin, Deanie couldn't pronounce). Notice that the smile hasn't changed that much through the years. These wonderful women gave me a very good start in life.

The photo and the ephemera are all printed onto prepared cotton sheets and fused to the background and edge stitched by machine. The green label is from a package of red rickrack that still has some of the rickrack on it. (Granny's generation saved and used everything.) The green hexagons are from the unfinished Grandmother's Flower Garden pieces that I've used in several of my journal quilts. I made a yo-yo from a piece of her fabric and attached it to the center of the circle logo with an old red button. The crocheted butterfly is also from Granny's stash and is machine stitched on with an old bakelite button for the body. The left side was bordered by sewing on a part of an actual old tape measure from the collection.

The back has one of Granny's quilt pattern clippings from the Capper's Weekly printed on cotton and fused on along with two old needle packages, which were also printed onto cotton and fused on. These appear to be from the WWII time frame but the Eagle has "made in Germany" printed on it so must be from right after the war when the USA was occupying part of Germany.
I can't quite imagine the Germans making USA patriotic needle packages while they were fighting us.


I've had the pieces and parts of this page in my Journal Quilt project box since the first of the year and am so pleased that I finally figured out a way to use them in this tribute to Granny's impact on my life.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will be able to see a note in Granny's handwriting on the clipping.