Southern Comfort

It was a charmed and delightful trip to Alabama and Tennessee!  We laughed and laughed, made new "sisters," ate well, walked and sewed until we dropped.  

Victoria, Mary, Bonnie and Kim have posted lots of great photos of the workshop with 

China and Mary Ann Pettway of Gee's Bend, Alabama.  So I'll post other parts of the trip. 

This is the path between our sleeping cabin and the sewing/dining room.

Rocking chairs on porches seem to represent the South.  These were on our back porch.

Bonnie, Tina and I stayed an extra day with Mary in Tennessee.  We went to a couple of antique shops and found some amazing old quilts!  Tina came home with this top.

And this quilt.

I bought this Rocky Road to Kansas top.

And this top.

And this quilt, all made of silky fabrics.  

I worked with some of my old baby clothes that were sewn by my grandmother.  China Pettway helped a lot.  I came home with one rendition, but decided I didn't like it.  So I picked out the blocks and started over.  Here's last night's version.  I'm still not pleased, but will keep going until I like it!  

Alabama or Bust!

Greetings from the kitchen table--my temporary sewing and computer space!  We've got some serious down-sizing going on at our house.  Soon I'll have a room for sewing.

Next week I'll be in Alabama to sew with some dear friends and some Gee's Bend quilt makers.  I've prepared hand work for the journey.

In my cleaning-out-of-all-things-unused, I came across some of my baby clothes.  I'm going to take them to Alabama and make a quilt.  My grandmother, an excellent seamstress made these.  I may shed some tears while cutting them up.  But I decided it's better to put them into a quilt that I can see every day, than to have them sit in the cedar chest for another 50 years.

I actually have a faint memory of this pillow case and a photo of me sleeping on it!

Do they call this a "romper?"  I must have had a few.  There are photos of me in other ones.

How about that skirt in the back?  I wonder if this is where I got my love of red and green plaids.

I suppose this is a nightgown.  Looks like a choking hazard to me.

Red gingham and rickrack!  What could be better?

Little bitty buttons

I can't imagine doing all this handwork, and then letting a toddler run around in this!