This was an interesting project that includes 3 generations of first-born women. The grandmother (generation 1) apparently embroidered many blocks that compose a childhood prayer and put them together as a quilt top. She made this for her hope chest, well before she was a wife and mother. The embroidery is hand stitched as was the piecing. Originally the quilt was tied, not quilted.
The mom (generation 2) also had a different baby quilt.. Eventually it used as the batting for the embroidered quilt.
In the 1980s, generation 3 daughter was born. She was given the embroidered quilt at her birth and also had a cotton thermal blanket that she loved. This daughter is now a a PhD candidate at UVa focusing on American Art History.
By fall of 2020, the embroidered quilt was in rough shape. Both the backing and the quilt that had been used as the batting were shredded and the batting had shifted. The quilt had only been tied, not quilted so there were lots of lumps and bumps from the batting. Luckily the embroidery had held up very well.
I took apart the 3 layers, tried to comb/ smooth out the smaller lumps and removed the big bumps that I couldn't get to flatten. I put in a very thin poly batting between the top and the original batting and then added a new back. I machine-quilted it and added a hanging sleeve. The mom (generation 2) embroidered a different prayer on a label which I hand-appliqued to the back.
The daughter (generation 3) received the refurbished quilt in Christmas 2020 and promptly asked if her cotton thermal blanket was also in the middle. It had not been included because mom hadn't been able to find it. Of course daughter runs up to her old room and digs it out of some hidden corner within a couple of minutes.
I was then contacted to rip out some of my quilting so I could then add the blanket and requilt it. I was worried because the original fabrics of the embroidered top were fragile and I was afraid that the fabrics would tear no matter how careful I was when taking out the stitching. However the customer is always right and I personally love the idea of all these layers representing different generations, so I was willing to take the risk. The mom (generation 2) made an additional label (to go with the prayer label) that lists the names of the 3 women and their respective birth years.
I love this story as I am also the third generation of first born women and my daughter is the 4th generation. In my family, all 4 of us have the same first name and my daughter thinks she wants to continue the tradition if she ever has a first-born who happens to be a girl. Crossing my fingers!!!
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