: A Tribute to Betsy
(Originally posted on my Sea of Glass Blog ~ June 11, 2011)
Both of my grandmothers quilted, and lately I've been considering it. They also tatted, crocheted, knitted, embroidered, and sewed, not to mention gardening and canning too!
My dad's mother had 6 children, 10 grandchildren,
15 great-grand, and 4 great-great-grand.
My mom's mother grew up with 12 other siblings; here are just the sisters, with my granny 2nd from right on the back row (fyi, the youngest girl lived to be 104!)
Granny married late in life and had one child (my mother), and 3 grandchildren (us)
Ella Mae Myers Eller
was known as Betsy by most. She did all of her sewing either by hand or on this manual machine. As a little girl, I used to spend hours under there rocking the pedal and spinning the wheel... probably broke a few needles too!
My blog name indicates that I will talk about and show my glass work, and I will, but I want to share with you the beauty of grandmother's handiwork, coupled with her devotion to her family.
First is a vest and long skirt she made for me during my early high school years, using scraps from our outgrown homemade dresses and shirts, and a few of her old ones, too. My guess on the pattern term is HST (how'm I doing Freda?)
The vest needs relining.
How about these bell-bottomy slacks that I can still get in? But the shorts... that's another story!
My shorts, front and back and they are really small.
Maybe I should make wearing these a goal???
My housecoat front and back. I love this pattern, like open books...and remember, she cut each piece with old-timey scissors - no rotary or GO! cutters!!! (gotta use my new
vocab ;-)
The pink lining needs replacing.
My younger son wore this for a costume in 1989, as Joseph's coat, shown here with his older brother.
And finally, the mac-daddy (or mac-granny) of them all:
My quilt she made using even more of the outgrown dresses.
The binding is loose, so I've purchased some new in the same color and fabric, thanks to advice from a mega-quilting friend. Now to raise the courage to replace it!
The quilt back is a beautiful shocking pink and orange fuzzy flannel!
These were my mom's slacks, made by her mom. Front:
I enjoy looking at each piece of fabric. Back:
My mom's shorts, front and back.
The burgundy and tan patch below, is a lil pocket.
More shorts, I think these were my granny's...
and another pocket!
and another pocket!
Here's an unlined skirt, front and back. I'm not sure whether it was left that way intentionally for a cooler fit, or not enough time to line.
I recognize my piano recital dress among these squares (pink with daisies).
Another unlined skirt, this one probably Mama's. I recognize the fabrics from other clothing. My sister and I used to have big full psychedelic "bell-sleeve dresses" made from the maroon/orange patches, and the pink swirly-curly patches (I have a pic somewhere).
And finally, the last item I pulled from the bag: A quilt flimsy. I recently learned this term from My Friend's Quilt Blog. This flimsy appears to be pillow sized.
The back side
I plan to complete this project that my granny began so many years ago - as a pillow. Other ideas welcomed!
