Granny Lives On Through My Dad's Quilts

Granny's love of life was because of her family, her Lord and her quilting.
She always told me that nobody else was interested in quilting
and that I needed to get busy so I could pass the love of quilting to my children.

All of Granny's children helped her with anything she needed all the time.
They all were very dedicated to Granny.
You hardly ever went to Granny's
house without someone being there.
Granny was a very independent woman but always loved company.
My Daddy always made sure that Granny
 had plenty of bobbins filled so she would not have to stop quilting.
She used to tell me that he always showed up at the perfect time to roll a quilt. 
She always wondered how he knew when to come.

This is Granny 15 days before she went to Heaven.
Granny was quilting up a storm and loving every minute of it.
I never in my wildest dreams thought that she would be gone so soon.
I wish I had hugged her more.
(tears)
The good thing is that I have hope that I will see her again.

Daddy was just about as proud of Granny's quilts when she finished one as she was.
At the very end of Granny's life my daddy started quilting too.
It made Granny very happy to know that someone besides me was seeing why she loved to quilt.

I never tried to sell one of Granny's quilts.
One day Martha emailed and asked if Granny would consider selling one of her quilts.
That started the snowball.  Then Granny sold another and another 
and so on and so on thanks to blogger's.
Granny had this stack of quilts sitting here for years until this happened. 
Family members would come at Christmas and
 buy a few but other than that she didn't sell many. 
The only place she went was to church so she didn't see many people.  
Once we sold a lot of quilts it gave her a zeal to quilt more.  Even though Granny was a healthy woman, this gave her something to get up in the mornings for. I truly believe that she would not  have been here as long as she was if it wasn't for you blogger's.   She started her day with breakfast and then prayer and Bible reading and then she was at the sewing machine until lunch. Then back at the sewing machine until supper time. Then Granny went to bed around 7 every night. The only days that she didn't quilt was Friday when it was "wash day" and then Sunday because it was the "Lords day."
 At the end of her life she did start quilting on "wash day."  She couldn't help herself.
The one fear that Granny had was that she would leave this world with a quilt half finished. 
 I am proud to say that she finished her last quilt before she left us.
She doesn't have to worry about that anymore.
***************************************
Fast Forward till today:

My Daddy has been calling me to come over and see his quilts
 that he has been working on, so today I went to see him.
It took him months before he would even look at a sewing machine after Granny passed away.
Then gradually he started quilting again.  Here he is showing me one that he  made.
I know that Granny is smiling.

I would not have ever dreamed that my daddy
 would love quilting like Granny did but he does.

He was explaining to me that his quilts are not
 perfect and that he just learned from watching Granny.
I told him that there is not a perfect quilt. 
 He does do his binding different than Granny but it is "his" way.

It makes me so proud to see my Daddy so happy and talking about all of his quilts.
Each one has a story.  I asked him if he would
consider selling them because I have had several people ask
about Granny's quilts. He said yes. This is the closest thing to Granny's quilts that we have left.   Daddy is almost 76 years old and is finally happy after losing his Mother.
 I know that he misses her so bad.
Who would have guessed that making Granny quilts would do it?
I bet Granny would have guessed.  She knew all about the love of quilting.
I called my children and told them that they need to get one.

When Granny passed away the family felt like she
would want Daddy to have her sewing machine. 
He takes great pride in sewing on her machine.

Here are 4 of Daddy's quilts.  He really did a good job.
I asked him what he wanted for the quilts in case someone is interested.
He said he would like to get 60.00 dollars because the
cotton batting has went up in price since he used to buy it for Granny.
Granny's quilts were 50.00 and that was a deal.  I have to tell you that
Daddy's quilts are a deal too.  Perfect? No. 
But if you would like a quilt that is as close to Granny's
as they can be, you can get one from her son, my daddy.

Daddy told me that he cannot sit and have idle hands.
Granny told me the same thing about quilting.
They surely could not make money doing this.
It is making something much more than money.
It is making happiness.

I don't think that I have ever shown you this picture.
This is Granny and my Paw Paw in 1980.
They were at my house seeing my newborn baby, Maranda ( Big Sis).
Wasn't Granny pretty?  That would have been 30 years ago.
And look at my Paw Paw.....do you see the resemblance in my dad?
He looks just like him.
Oh and look at that beautiful baby of mine!

These were the stacks of quilts that I saw today on Daddy's couch.
It reminded me of when I first saw Granny's stack of quilts.

Daddy has made 9 quilts so far and has several more tops started. 
They remind me so much of Granny's quilts.
It made Granny happy and it is making my Daddy happy. 
Granny's quilts.
Daddy's quilts.
He was taught by the best.
I remember right after Granny passed that my daddy told me that he didn't
think he would ever quilt again.  He was just so sad and grieving.
Then he remembered Granny's favorite verse:
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Phillippians 4:13
I know that Granny is smiling down on this blog
even though she didn't understand blog land.
Granny does live on through my Dad's quilts.