Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Church Quilt Display

It's been a sunny and beautiful day here in St. George. Spring is in full bloom. The trees around our community are awash in pinks, whites and purples.

We have a song in our church that the children love to sing. It's called "Popcorn Popping on The Apricot Tree". When I see the blossoms on the trees I always think of this song, and begin to sing it right out loud.

Tonight we had a special dinner and program for the women in our church. For decorations they asked the members of our congregation to bring quilts that either they had made, or a family member had made.

During the program we had two speakers. One was from our historical society. She told of the history of St. George, and the sacrifices the women of this area made to help settle our city. Our second speaker was a city employee who spoke of the exciting things going on in St.George today.

The first settlers arrived during the Civil War. The cotton industry was in ruins, so attempts were made to grow cotton in Southern Utah. Silk worms were brought in, too. Neither survived the harsh conditions and weather.

Some of the quilts that were on display were new, and some were very old.


This star quilt is from the Civil War period, about 1865.


A family quilt made in tribute to a grandmother.
A Grandmother's Flower Garden
I had not seen this pattern before. The explanation said it was made of scraps of old shirts, dresses and aprons. This quilt was made by "Norma's grandmother" and I think Norma is a great- grandmother herself.

The yellow quilt is another variation of a Grandmother's Flower Garden. Made in 1932, it was never quilted. It was then given to a niece who had it finished in 1980.

10 comments:

Sharleen said...

Can't wait for Spring! We have snow but it's melting fast. Love the quilts. The more I see Grandmothers Flower Garden the more I love it.

Unknown said...

The quilts are wonderful! What a beautiful display of new and old together. Right now you are so lucky that spring is there. We still have a while yet. Thanks for the pictures of the blossoms.... I can now dream.

Sherri said...

What great quilts...sounds like a great evening!

Dawn said...

Popcorn is poppin here too!! It is so beautiful. The quilts are wonderful! Sound like you had a night of enrichment!!

MAM said...

love your stuff

flora said...

LOVe, love, love your blog!

Browndirtcottage said...

Seeing all these quilts is inspiring for me!!! Thanks for sharing with us!

Jana said...

Everytime my dh hears the weather on KSL, he comments that we should look into buying a second home in St. G. I would love it now but would probably melt in the summer. :)

Love your RS activity with the quilts!

Anonymous said...

I love looking at all those. I need to inherit a GFG quilt. So far, I know of no relatives who have one. Maybe I should encourage them to make one so I can inherit it.

Nanette Merrill said...

Of course I zeroed right in on Norma's quilt. I couldn't see the "block" in the quilt. Hmm. Those old timey patterns were really hard! I love it.