Farmdale Four-Patch

This quilt is a tribute to a quilt my great grandmother made a long time ago.  I wanted to update her quilt and use colors and fabrics that were more "me".  I also didn't have a huge stash so scrappy wasn't really an option (and I didn't even have any gingham, something I regret not purchasing for this quilt).

I thought this Kona solid (aqua, I think) would be perfect for my re-make.  I had a lot of Farmdale fabric (the crosshatch print was very similar to a print in the original quilt!) and Denyse Schmidt, both of which felt vintage and feedsack inspired...and happened to match my color scheme.

The back also matches the original quilt pattern. I cut rectangles from fabrics that were used on the front, unlike the original quilt which has very little overlap in fabrics.  I took great care while basting to make sure the backing stayed on-grid and centered with the front. I echo quilted along every seam and it's bound with pink Farmdale crosshatch.

After hearing that she had land (with apple trees and a small cabin), I gave this quilt to my friend Natascha.  She was shocked that I'd give away a quilt that held such familial meaning.  But, as a person with a small bit of land with apple trees, she needed this quilt more than I did.  That's all there was to it and I felt (and still feel) no regrets.

Here is the original great grandma quilt:

I don't remember how or when I inherited it. It's an odd little quilt, simple 4-patch tied at each corner with a rectangle patchwork backing.  There's no binding...it was sewed wrong sides together and then turned right side out.

It's odd, it looks like extra 4-patches were added to the top and side of the quilt, but then the squares around the edges look like they've been trimmed down to fit the backing.  Why not keep the top as-is and trim the back instead?  At the top, the 4-patches are turned the wrong way and both sides use the same but different green background fabric.

I'm happy that this quilt came to me and that I could learn lessons from my great grandma, years after her passing.  I think of the amount of work that went into this quilt, to tie all those corners, only to have the fabric fall apart around them over the years.  I think of how done was better than perfect...how a different green fabric was good enough.  I love how not all the squares are the same size, how not all the rectangles are perfect...yet the quilt as a whole is beautiful.  How this quilt...despite its age, its wear, its crinkles, its holes...is beautiful.