GRANDMA'S FLOWER GARDEN - FIFTY YEARS IN THE MAKING!

by Tina Cruise Patterson
(SC)

Grandma's Flower Garden - 50 years of love!

My mother started this quilt when she was pregnant with my oldest of four brothers in 1953-54. She'd sew a little and then put it aside and start on something else. However, as the years rolled by, she was mostly consumed with caring for five children, all just one year apart; I still don't know how she did it!

In addition to gardening and canning, mom made most of our clothes and taught me (the youngest and only girl) to sew at a very young age. I remember standing at the end of the sewing table, watching my face go round and round on the hand wheel. When I reached my teens, I picked up the cigar box filled with little quarter sized hexagon fabrics, cut from left over scraps of favorite dresses and play wear, and began hand sewing many of them together. Then I married and moved out, began a family of my own and the little cigar box sat at rest gathering dust for several more years.

The kids and grandkids grew up and no longer needed much of mom's attention, and to my wonderful surprise, mom found time once again for her craft and finished all the little hexagon flowers. I don't know exactly how many it took, but trust me, it's a lot! She presented Grandma's Flower Garden to me on my 45th birthday, 50 years after she's cut out that first little hexagon. So, we call it "our" collaborative 50 years of love in the making, though I give her much more credit for its completion than myself. I proudly have it displayed now in my home, remembering at every gaze each little home sewn school dress that eventually became a part of my wonderful keepsake.

Mom is a fantastic quilter and has completed numerous quilts for all her children, grandchildren and now great grandchildren. I have time now to devote to the craft and am beginning to make my own collection of pieced fabric art. My daughter, Lindsay, is a fashion designer, so I guess the apple doesn't fall from the tree when it comes to fabric, pins and thread.

So here's a huge heart felt thank you to my mom, Emma Cruise, of Mogadore, OH for all the beautiful keepsakes and the wonderful lessons and legacy.

With all my love
Daughter, Tina