AtoZ Challenge...Great Grandmother's Flower Garden Beds

 AtoZ Letter G

My Great Grandmother has been the inspiration for many posts here on CollectInTexas Gal and a primary person on my Family History Blog...Tracks of My Texas Ancestors.

I like to imagine her sewing together the hexagon pieces from her collection of feedsacks and clothing scraps.  During the Great Depression of the 1930's those fabrics were highly valued and coveted by quilters.

Great Grandmother was a Texas Cotton Farmer during those days, and having a Flower Garden Bed Quilt was as close as she probably had to a garden bed of flowers.

As one of the best loved vintage quilts, the Grandmother's Flower Garden, can be found in antique shops, flea markets and attics.  Although still very popular, few are made by todays quilters as this pattern is very labor intensive with hand piecing and quilting being preferred.

 

The pieced hexagon quilt dates back to 18th Century England.  Immigrants brought the pattern to the America Colonies and historians believe the hexagon pattern might be one of the oldest pieced patterns.  The earliest known American made hexagon quilt is dated 1807 even though many were made earlier, they were not dated and few survived.

 

Also known as Mosaic quilts, Honeycomb quilts and Six Sided Patchwork, the hexagon pattern has remained popular, changing from chintz to silk to wool to calico fabrics.  During the time of my Great Grandmother, quilters stayed true in representing the flower with a yellow center circled by a floral print with a solid representing the background.  It is thought the white hexagons represent a picket fence. 

Have you had April Showers yet?

You know they bring life to Grandmother's Flower Garden Beds!

 

PS...Thank you for commenting.  I will catch up with you on Sunday.  This is my weekend to be featured in a Wearable Arts Showcase.