Pieces of the Past: Double Wedding Ring

Here's another one of my Family Mystery Quilts: no one seems to know if the quilt was made by my maternal great-grandmother (Bertha Julianna Hoffmann Sommerfield) or maternal grandmother (Norma Gerke Sommerfield).  It doesn't really matter who made the quilt, I just love having a wonderful, tangible connection to my past!

Bailey, my Lab mix quilting buddy, is admiring the quilt from the corner of the pic!

When my mom gave me this quilt, I was a little dismayed by the bright yellow background fabric.  I don't think the quilt had ever been used, let alone washed, and the yellow background was very vivid!

On the other hand, the backing fabric was fabulous!

I gave in to temptation and washed the quilt.  The yellow color softened perceptibly and didn't clash quite so much with the pink borders.  The quilt now has pride of place on the guest bed.

The rings have bubblegum pink and green centers.

All those little pieces make a great fabric catalog.  Most of the fabrics are typical 1930s and 1940s prints.  

Several of the pieces are double pinks and indigo prints, fabric styles which have remained popular for generations!

The quilt measures approximately 78" x 94".  It is hand-pieced and hand-quilted.  I'm really not sure when the quilt was made; the fabrics give a clue, but I don't have any information on the date they were actually assembled into a quilt.

Pieces of the Past: Feedsack Cracker

I inherited this quilt from my mom's side of the family, but its origins are a bit of a mystery.

My mom and her sister disagree on exactly who made the quilt.  My aunt says their mother, Norma Gerke Sommerfield, made the quilt, while my mom says the quilt was made by their grandmother, Bertha Hoffmann Sommerfield.  

My mom, who is the oldest, does not remember seeing their mother making quilts.  My aunt insists their mother was an avid quilter.  I knew both women as a child and I don't remember either one of them ever sewing, much less quilting!

Regardless, I have fond memories of both grandmothers when I use their quilts!

The pattern for this quilt is known as Cracker; it's a fairly easy pattern and great for using scraps.  This version is a nice sampler of Depression-era fabrics.

The printed fabric may have been purchased, or it may have been saved from feedsacks.  The white background fabric is coarser; it may be from plain, bleached feedsacks, since there are variations in the actual white color.

The quilting is done by hand in a cross-hatch pattern.

The binding was created by folding the backing over to the front; size is approximately 64 inches by 84 inches.