A Quilt Maker’s Tale – #6 – Family Signature Quilt By Bobbie A Chestand
My grandmother could pull any quilt from her closet (that’s where she kept them) and tell you something about it. One time she pulled one down for me and told me where each fabric had come from, some were clothing that her children had worn. She remembered every piece. Every quilt maker has a story to tell. I want to collect those stories and share them with you.
A Quilt Maker’s Tale is a series featuring stories from my readers about their experiences with quilts. The stories are in the quilt maker’s own words and uses their own pictures. If you’d like to be featured in this series, please have a look here.
See all the posts in this series here.
Product Spotlight
- Sonata Fabric Collection by Amy Sinibaldi for Art Gallery Fabrics
- 100% cotton, quilting weight
- 16 fabrics
- 1 cut of each print per bundle (16 total)
Purchase here.
Family Signature Quilt
By Bobbie A Chestand
It was Thanksgiving, November 27, 1997, the first Thanksgiving the family would celebrate at my home in Woodworth, LA. I wanted something to remember this day by and who I celebrated it with. I had seen signature quilts in magazines and decided that I wanted to create one for this special occasion. So I purchased fabric pens and muslin fabric. I cut the muslin into six inch squares. I assigned my niece Carletta Chestand to be in charge of getting everyone, including the children, to write/draw anything they wished on the fabric squares. The day was as memorable as I had hoped for. The men were outside frying turkeys while the women were inside working on side dishes and desserts. We ate and ate and ate some more. We played a few rounds of the game Scattergories with the winning team receiving jumbo popcorn balls.
When the day was over my Cousin Patricia Smith asked if I wanted her to put the squares together, with great relief and joy I said yes. She took the squares home with her to Houston, TX and it wasn’t until Thanksgiving the next year in Houston, TX that we saw this beauty. We marveled at the names and drawings on the quilt and laughed remembering the good time we had. Patricia chose the setting and backing fabric to complete this quilt. As a professional seamstress her skills really showed through on this quilt.
It hung in my home for a few years until I moved into an apartment. I have passed it on to my niece Twana Chestand to serve as it’s curator for future generations.
When I look at the quilt now, I remember the joy, love and fun we shared that day. I am also saddened by the number of family members no longer with us. Their presence is still with us though, thru the six inch squares in this quilt with their names or drawings. They may be gone but we will remember them each time we look at this quilt. Ironically, the only person whose name does not appear anywhere in the quilt is mine, because I did not create a square that day.
Custom Quilt Labels
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Thank you so much, Bobbie for sharing your story with us.
A Quilt Maker’s Tale is a series featuring stories from my readers about their experiences with quilts. The stories are in the quilt maker’s own words and uses their own pictures. If you’d like to be featured in this series, please have a look here.
Would love to see your signature quilt all put together. I have squares but don’t know how to make the quilt using them. I would love your ideas! I do enjoy your blog.
Helen, choose a quilt pattern you like that uses the sizes of signed squares you have and make the quilt using your signed squares. Here are links to the signature quilts I made: http://farmquilter.blogspot.com/2010/12/quilts-i-made-for-christmas-this-year.html, http://farmquilter.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-lovely-year-of-finishes-november.html. All the signatures were in the white fabrics.
I would have loved to have seen the picture of the quilt…it didn’t come through on the blog. I’ve made a few autograph quilts – one for my in-laws’ 50th anniversary party, and a few for wedding guests to sign in lieu of a book.