New beginning, old quilts!

A couple of weeks ago we were in Memphis for our grandson's graduation from 5th grade.  We are so proud of him, accepted to a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) middle school for next year, and he's really looking forward to it.

After the ceremony, at a beautiful church with an amazing pipe organ, many of the kids and their families headed over to Central BBQ downtown.  I love this place -- they have three restaurants in Memphis, one just a block from my daughter's house -- so we were pumped to go there.  We heard that they have been bought out by Holiday Inn (which started in Memphis).  I so hope that it won't get "chained out."  It is just a fabulous place to eat.  If you get to Memphis, do head for Central.  There are more famous spots, but don't overlook this great place!

We ate in a big room for a large crowd.  While waiting in a loooong line to chow down, I noticed that the curtains in the room were old quilts.  Authentic, and most interesting.

This first one wasn't a creative masterpiece, but very nicely stitched.  In spots just out of the photo, you could see that some of the fabric had worn through.  I hope that there was some sun protection on the back.

At the next window was a hexie quilt.  Grandmother's Flower Garden?  Hard to tell.  It was really just a top with some kind of backing.  It doesn't look like it had actually been quilted.

I'm not sure about this next one.  The fabrics look old, but it was hard to open out the curtain to get a good view of the quilt itself.  The windows were very tall, and the bottom of the curtains/quilts came down only to my chin.  I had to enlist some other people in line to help hold them open, but this one wasn't a great photo success.  Still, it looks like something that was very utilitarian -- totally scraps.  I wish I knew more about its history.

Here was a wonderful Dresden plate quilt, probably made in the 1930s (?).  Again, all scraps, so that few elements were the same.

Finally, this beauty.  Not only were the colors and construction lovely, but the sun was shining through it at a perfect angle.  It was too difficult to peek at the back to look at the construction, but it certainly was the highlight of the window quilts.

I've been working on a couple of UFOs, and finally finished a set of Roman blinds for my daughter.  More on those projects next time!