I have so many wonderful textiles around my home and I love displaying as many as possible.
That grandmother did lots of “drawn work” – every grandchild, and there were lots of us, got one of these luncheon cloths with drawn work all around the edge.
She also did cross stitching around the bottom of countless gingham aprons as well as a gathered skirt for me.
The crocheted undergarment and hat were made by Aunt Amy. The little dolls with pompoms were dressed by another aunt when I was very small.
Amy also crocheted this bedspread/large table covering. You do remember Aunt Amy, don’t you?
I purchase linens at thrift stores when I see them. This drawn work runner was in bad shape but I bought it in memory of the maker whoever she was.
Here are more:
These are actually bed sheets and one pillowcase. Does anybody know what this work on the bottom one is called? Educate me if you know.
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All the above was not even planned. THIS is what was planned for this post – Trash Triangles!
Remember Yes, We Can America!, right?
They were too small to trim up. Remember we had that discussion about whether we throw them away or save them. Well, I saved them – sewed them, pressed them and trimmed off the wings and made a quilt.
Here you go – a quilt called TRASH TRIANGLES!
The borders were leftover red and white triangle squares. I just cut them off where they landed. I quilted it with very crooked lines to follow the pattern.
Because this will be controversial I’m considering posting it on Instagram just to see what people say. They won’t know the back story like you do, of course, so follow along for what could be a lively discussion. My account is under marybetherington. It will be titled Trash Triangles.
Reader photos
HELP! Does anyone have a piece of this border fabric in their stash? Margie needs a 2-1/2” x 24” strip to finish the binding. If you do have a piece, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Margie or else use her number written on the note.
I apologize for the length of this post – certainly not my original intention – sigh. Please feel free to continue sending your photos on whatever subject you want.
The trash triangle quilt is a lot of fun! Mary, the posts are never to long- this is the only blog I actually read completely on a daily basis. I’ve been home with the flu all week and this blog has been wonderful company. Thank you!
Elizabeth – the flu for a week??? Ugh. This is Day 5 for me and I’m nowhere near well again. I hate to think about how long this cough could last.
Re: Margie’s Fabric Request
Joel made two of those quilts a few years back… he seems to remember that the kits had very little extra fabric in them. He’s going to look through his fabric bins and I will let you know.
He is here today working on his newest quilt project – I can’t wait to send you a pic of it! I think I have him convinced to let it hang in my living room (on that lighted quilt hanger) for a while…😉
Ok…I shouldn’t have said anything… Joel’s quilts didn’t use that fabric for the borders. We got someone to take a photo of the quilt on the wall…. Sorry to get your hopes up…😕
Linda – oh, you would be so lucky! What else has Joel been making?
The Trash Triangles quilt is so wonderful…i am so funny about seams matching, but love that the tiny triangles don’t match perfectly….Just like a lot of the doll quilts of old that were made out of whatever scraps….
I wish my doll quilts from my grandma weren’t so worn out…..I just loved them so as a little girl and they got played with all the time…
I love your trash triangles. Everything about it is great. I always buy any old textiles when I find them. I’ve even got a small one soaking right now. It is still dirty with some spots. It will be awhile.
What a great post. I too love all the old linens. When I was first married in the 70’s I’d buy the antiques and use them. And try to make things. I love the look of the chicken scratch on gingham. Wish I learned that in home ec when we made our aprons of gingham, but I wasn’t aware of its existence.
To save those clothes, Gloria. How wonderful to have them. My paternal grandmother was a seamstress in her occupation. She passed away young, my Dad was 5. I think I have her genes, at least her passion. Nobody saved any of her work that I ever saw. Like Patti our family was spread all over the country.
Love the trash triangle quilt. Mary, you make such lovely quilts.
I love your trash triangles! Sadly, my leftover triangles are in … the trash. I also enjoyed seeing all the old linens. I once took a class from Cindy Needham, who quilts on old lace items it was fun – I will try to remember to send a picture.
Love, Love your Trash Triangles!!
Mary,
What a great blog post today. Love all the pictures of old clothes and the white linens are amazing.
Your Trash Triangles is wonderful!! I have a lot of triangles but many different colors. I’ll look at them later.
Your geranium looks very healthy. I brought two up from the basement and they are starting to come around. This is their third year of life.
Have a great day everyone. 🌻
Sunflower – a couple of my hanging geraniums in the basement are looking pretty good. In March I’ll start fertilizing them and eventually moving them upstairs – hopefully outside by mid May
I have great memories of both of my grandmas doing handwork. The one made wool braided rugs and little bootees with four little short needles. The other grandma did all sorts of handwork. She did crocheting table cloths, little dresses. Handkerchiefs, pillowcases, tating around handkerchiefs, knitting, sewed dresses by hand, she made a baby quilt for me which I still have. I also have several of her crocheted items in the cedar chest. Thinking about them doing handwork with only the light of a kerosene lamp. Amazing!
I love all the pictures and Mary, your blog is never too long.
Your blog has the most interesting eye candy! I love it! Thanks for sharing with all of us.
Never too long for me! The highlight of my day. I love Gloria’s Dad’s clothes. How wonderful to still have them. Everything is so beautiful. Which cat is the black and white one in the photo?
Brenda – the black and white cat is Millie who looks like Squeak in Ohio.
I’m late in leaving this comment on the post from 2-12…. to whoever stitched the pine tree and cardinal and the rocking chair with cat, quilt, and lamp….. they are stunning! Everyone does such lovely work, but those pieces remind me of the stitching done by my great grandma. Mary, you put so much effort into your photo posts! The children’s clothes are beautiful. I’m impressed that so many have been saved. I have some of the handmade under dresses that are from in my family. We also have many of the dolls she dressed. I consider all of these things true heirlooms and it’s clear many of your readers think the same.
Carla – YES! I think this group believes in honoring our female ancestors’ talent inneedlework of any kind. Aren’t we glad these things getting get tossed over the years? Carla, don’t you have all boys? If I’m right, do your daughter in laws appreciate antique textiles?
One of my DILs majored in anthropology so it’s safe to say she appreciates old things! Another has just began quilting and sewing and loves textiles. The third DIL likes heirlooms, but is very controlled in what she keeps in her home. We’re fortunate in that our family homestead is set up in a trust that will continue on down in our family so the heirlooms have a place to live.
Carla – I can’t tell you how lucky I think you are! Your things won’t end up in the landfill!
I love your trash triangles quilt! I’m currently using the little triangles from the estate sale. I’ll get three mini quilts. I find I’m happier with precision piecing but that’s my personal quirk. I get frustrated when things don’t fit perfectly.
I found a book years ago about chicken scratch embroidery and have seen several people on instagram have started it up again. Finding quality gingham to stitch on is a bit of a problem. It used to be easily found but no longer.
We didn’t keep any old clothes – things were passed down and used to the point they became cleaning rags and trash. The baptismal gown used in our family sadly became a battle for who got to keep it.
LOVE the trash triangles. Not much else to say about it, it is WONDERFUL! Best of the year!!
What wonderful clothes today, such cute boy outfits. Gloria you are lucky to have so many pieces from your dad. I have some cute doilies that woman in our family made and hanky’s from both grandmothers. We are still traveling and yesterday we went to the AQS show in Daytona, Fl. So many wonderful quilts and lots of vendors. My husband says my quilts are more usable than works of art, lol. I would agree with him. Many of the winners were quilts to hand on the wall and enjoy, not use. Lots of sequins and ribbon borders. It was a very nice show and very inspiring. Will tour a historic home and garden in Jacksonville, Fl tomorrow. Sunny and 60 here. P.S. Mary, I love the trash triangle name and finished product.
Patti – you are so welcome! The blog is my social outlet – I like to stay home – don’t go to coffee with friends or join any clubs or committees – you readers are who I have coffee with every morning. Some nights I can’t wait to get up so I can see what you all have to say in the morning. You sound really “ with it” this morning to me, Patti! What a great feeling, huh? We want you to always keep us updated since we all know you’re struggling with health issues.
Your posts are never too long for us, but I know you don’t want it to crash either. It was such a fun post to see. I have some linens similar to some of yours, but I do not know for sure where they came from. I know my mother didn’t do any work like that. We lived on a farm in MN, and she did most of the milking and other chores, so very little time for that. (My dad only had one good arm so couldn’t do a lot of the chores.) She did do some embroidery. She also made clothes for us kids, so that’s what she would do in her spare time.
I have the same barn quilt wallhanging, but my border is different from the one Margie used. My border is all small barn quilts with no trees. I do have some of mine left over, but it would not match hers.
Another cold day in Iowa, but warmer days are coming!
Forgot to say I love your trash triangles quilt.
I love your trash triangles quilt. I also love that you show you can make a beautiful, fun quilt without having every thing lined up and perfectly matched! I have been piecing scrap quilts out of my saved scraps. I didn’t think my container was very big but I have two quilt tops big enough for queen size beds and still have scraps left. I am surprised at how far the scraps and trash triangles go.😊
What a great post! It’s not too long at all. The pictures of the children’s clothing are so precious, but I so enjoyed seeing all the other needlework.
Your “Trash Triangle” quilt inspired me to use all my leftover triangles which don’t really match up to create a great quilt!
Great post today Mary (well truthfully, they all are great). I loved all of the clothing and the “fancy work’ as my grandmother called it. I have quite a few things that my Nana made. I was the youngest grand daughter so most of my items were things well used by Nana and my Mom. I LOVE your trash triangle project. I save all of mine too.
I absolutely loved that you want to post it on instagram just to see how the conversation goes. You are a rebel Mary!!! I’m not on instagram, but that makes me think I ought to join just to follow along.
1. The apron work is called chicken scratch. Appropriate, hm?
2. The open work is called faggoting.
I absolutely love textiles! I hit the Brass Armadillo several times a year and always watch for linens. Doilies, lace, lace pieces, pillowcases, tablecloths, tattered quilts. I love it all. I repurpose many of them into other things that I sell at our church sale. Anything I make with old textiles sells out first. Wen my husband’s grandmother cleared out her house to move to Des Moines with her daughter, I helped her. She gave me many pieces that she had earmarked for trash (but they came home with me!). One womans trash is my treasure! I use as much as I can in my home and rotate them out often.
Good memories and an appreciation for hard work has lead me to this collecting. I think we all long for days gone by where things were made by hand and used till they were no longer useful.
The young girls these days call out style “grandma core”. Yep, that’s me – grandma!
So that’s what chicken scratch is? With the additional crocheted item included? Maybe that’s not what it is. This stuff looks impossible to do – the drawn work especially and the faggoting – wouldnt social media have fun with that one?
Thanks, Diana, for naming those techniques. Mary, faggoting is the technique used on that bottom pillowcase. The narrow tape could have been basted or pinned down onto paper in that zig-zag shape before the crochet was done.
And chicken scratch is embroidery on gingham, using cross stitch or double cross stitch, then sometimes weaving thread through those stitches. The woven flowers on your apron are unusual. Chicken scratch embroidery doesn’t involve crochet. My Iowa grandma made many chicken scratch aprons, but I don’t think it had that name when she did it.
Gloria, your dad’s clothes are just too adorable. I’m so glad your family kept his clothes.
Thank you Frances. My grandma kept everything clean and on hangers so when my uncle passed away he gave me all dad’s clothes. I have many more pictures of his clothes but I didn’t want to overdo it. I also have his birth certificate and baby book.
mary, i love love love this post. right down my alley. reminds me why i’m not as crazy as i sometimes think i am. i seem to save the smallest things but then i don’t think there has to be a deadline. i do as i feel. i am getting over my FOMO – fear of missing out. i have to always to know how to do everything or what is going on out there in the world. i wanted to be the one that people came to so they could learn what is going on. i seem to be happier when i am doing what i feel like doing.
all this textile work is such a pleasure to the eye. i have never been around much of this. my family (matenal side) was always extremely poor and they seemed to want to be away from any of that. did not embrace it. my grandma would hand piece somethings but it was rarely. always too much other work on the farm to do. she did put together and quilted double knit quilts that were used as bed pallets – always tons of kids around – that they did know how to do. ha! i wish i knew stuff like this from the paternal side but don’t think there are many to ask anymore. . this is what happens when family members scatter – looking for jobs, etc. yet an ever better reason whhy we need blogs like yours to remind us of what is out there. things that are forgotten. we want new and updated life. but we need to remember how we got here also. i can’t possibly explain how much i appreciate your blog and your opportunity to share with each other. thank you. thank you. patti in florida
Love your comments, Patti. I too wanted to always be in the know. Led me to library reference work, I had to know what was going on. Eventually all the young people were bypassing me. Haha. It was hard to stay up to date on everything. But there was a time…..
Glad you posted today.
Patti,
My eldest son is the proud possessor (I that a word?) of a double knit quilt made by his great grandma. He wants another one, because he loves the heaviness of it. But I can’t find that old fashioned double knit fabric anywhere today. It’s all that thin stretchy stuff.
Mary, all that cut work stitching boggles my brain also. Amazing how they accomplished such intricate work.
We’ve been in the teens, twenties, and thirties temperatures down in my part of coastal Texas. Next week, they’re predicting high seventies. I’m looking forward to that!
don’t hold your breath. my sis is here and we just think there may be some of that double knit left at my mother’s. no idea how much, we made and wore lots of that when i was in high school in the mid 60s. i made a note to look for the next time someone is there. you know how life is but it surely gave me an ‘aha!’ moment. and it is located in central texas (fort hood area). see you never know. you just never know how things turn out. patti in florida (pleal@cfl.rr.com) send me your email addy if you will. (i hope you are okay with that, mary)
Patti – I’m just fine with you leaving a message for another reader – I hope she sees this and contacts you.
Love the Trash Triangles quilt. It makes a great story. Thanks for sharing.
I find the clothes from the past so intriguing. The workmanship is unbelievable. So happy that some pieces have been saved.
Could you educate me on drawn work? It looks almost like lace.
Marcia – I wish I could – it looks impossible to me – those threads used to be a solid piece of fabric – the threads are separated into the pattern. I just don’t get it.
Trash Triangles is fabulous! I love that you didn’t try to match corners—very folk-arty!
Sue – well, that’s the point – there is no way they could be matched and they were too tiny to trim to size. Some finish at 3/4”!
What a great way to start my day. Those drawn thread pieces are beautiful & the small red triangles-wow! I had bags of small triangles that I passed on to a guild member who loves making miniature quilts. The crocheted bedspread is a treasure & so is the book! I have a large box of embroidered & pulled thread table linens that my Dad rescued from estate sales & thrift stores. My grandmother was a talented needle worker & he knew how much work went into these pieces.
Des – can you imagine eating a meal on that tablecloth??? Hi to Boone!
Loved all the photos of children’s clothing. Reminders of a simpler time. And you have incredible patience to create a charming little quilt out of all those tiny triangles. You turned “trash” into treasure!
I love everything about this post. Your textiles remind me of what we inherited from my paternal grandmother. There is no chance she was the maker, so I don’t know whose work it was. I do know that my mother appreciated it, having come from a family of quilters and creators.
And Gloria–your father’s outfits are such treasures, and displaying them with the photos of sweet little him, wearing them, is absolute perfection!
I wish I had a piece of fabric to match Margie’s quilt.
Mary, I love your Trash Triangles quilt. I’m going to start saving mine. The drawn work pieces are so interesting. I need to see if my mom had anything like that. Very interesting blog today.
I love the “Trash Triangles”
I save all that will make 1 1/2″ unfinished triangles, up to “whatever” size
Dorothy in W WA
Dorothy – some of these trash triangles finish at only 3/4” –
Mary, I really like your Trash Triangles quilt. I , for some weird reason, decided to do the same and have kept some 1/2 sq triangles that trim down to 1-1/2”. I really like what you made and couldn’t figure out what to do and now I know. Much easier than the complicated pattern I was thinking of creating.
Your Trash Triangles quilt is a winner…. Love it!🥰👍
I agree your’s and Connie’s was the first raw edge bull’s eye quilt! Mary Ellen😉
I love all these textile pics. I will email you a couple of mi e with info on them tomorrow. I especially like the stories behind them.
I have a couple pieces of mine, born in 1948 and my moms wedding dress. I also have some family antique quilrs.
This is so much fun Mary.
Shirley in central Oregon