Two Mama spent many days sitting in a chair by the window
that looks out onto Turkey Creek, cutting and piecing quilts. One of her last
projects was this Double Wedding Ring, which was never finished, tucked away
after she was gone into a box in the attic space of her room. Some of the rings
were joined together, others just pieces waiting to find their mate. Pieces and
parts of this family's heritage, the threads that join them all together.
Two Mama's great-granddaughter Heidi has the house now,
Tumblin' Waters. For years now Heidi has been fixing up and cleaning out and
discovering hidden treasures at the old home place. A while back she brought to
me a box full of quilt tops, some finished, some not. This pink top was in that
box.
The box sat in my sewing room for many months, waiting on someone to need a quilt, and the idea to finish the pink wedding ring came when I heard
of an upcoming wedding, an all-girl wedding! And what more appropriate than a
pink wedding ring quilt.
So I pulled out all the pink parts which included two large
panels, lots of separate rings, filler edge pieces, large fabric sections left
from cutting pieces, and a pink sheet.
Starting with one of the large panels that had already been
put together, I laid it out on the bed, decided it was too long, and took off
one row on the bottom. It was also too narrow, so added rings on the sides
until it was a good size for a quilt.
Up until now I had only pieced together squares and
rectangles, no triangles with that stretchy bias side, no curves. I thought I
would have trouble with the curve but with the pieces already cut, it was like
Two Mama was guiding me through it. I then added 3 borders, one pink the same as
the filler pieces, and two more from the fabric in the box. Believe it or not, there is enough of the pink pieces left
for another whole quilt!
Next step - quilting. I wanted something special and since I
only quilt in straight lines at this point, I took to the expert, Peg Hasbrouck. I asked her to quilt it like she (the artist) wanted to, not an allover
design but something more detailed. I said that I did not have any $ invested
in this one - yet - so she could use her own judgement. She smiled and said, "Oh
good, this will help pay for my grandson's braces." Gulp! I said well maybe not
go that far J. Peg did an outstanding job as usual, I love the way it
turned out.
Next - binding and label. The label always takes me a long
time, deciding what to say, and this time there was a lot to say.
Something Old ▪ Something
New
fabric shopping by Mamaw - Inez Tidwell
hand cut and pieced
by Two Mama - Beatrice Strickland
quilted by Peg
Hasbrouck
finished by Susan
Tidwell
The wedding is in a month, the quilt gift was given this
weekend, smiles and hugs all around!
Just passing it on, passing it down, keeping it in the
family. Two Mama, I am proud to finish the work you started, wish you were here.
