Monday, February 23, 2009

Grapes


Grapes. Grapes relive so many good memories for me. I am still working on my Farmers Market quilt top provided free at Pat Sloan’s site. When I first saw this top I was reminded not of an actual Farmers Market but my Grandfathers gardens and orchard. I spent so much time at my Grandparent’s West Paris Street home growing up that a good portion of my fondest memories come from there. We were late in life children so my Grandparents were old compared to most children’s grandparents. They were retired the majority of my growing up years so I don’t remember anything but them both being there all the time. Grandpa spent his day in his gardens. They were beautiful gardens all fenced in with a wood picket fence, with pathways through the different areas of the gardens. If you got off the walkways he had concrete paths to let you actually walk through different areas. Outside of the picket fence were his fruit trees. We had cherries, peaches, pears, apples all the major fruits that would grow in our area of the world. Our favorite place was the grape arbor. It was quite large and beneath it was a bricked floor with a hanging swing and the old metal lawn chairs. In the summer this is where we would play as it was so much cooler under the arbor. Grandma would sit out with us drinking her ice tea. When the grapes were ripe we would help pick them as Grandma would make juice and then her famous “grape jell” as she would call it. We would help run the juice through the cheesecloth. I have so many good memories of those days. So this quilt is not so much a Farmers Market quilt for me as a memory of Grandpa. Pat didn’t have grapes on her quilt she had donuts. Grandpa was diabetic and would have never eaten a donut so I had to create my own grape block. It is reminiscent of a hot pad my Grandma had crocheted and always used to sit the hot something or other from the oven on. I wish I still had that hot pad but just by putting the grapes in this quilt I have a little something of both Grandma and Grandpa.

Love is a fruit in season at all times. - Mother Teresa

7 comments:

Barb said...

I love your memory....and the grape block. You even struck up some memories of my own. Aren't they great? I wish my sons could have had some of what I had as a child but it is a different world for them.

Quilts And Pieces said...

It is perfect! I know I"ve told you about my grandpa grown grapes as we called them!

Helen said...

Your post gives me a warm and comforting feeling. Thanks for sharing the memories of your grandparents.

Jan said...

Those are beautiful. What a wonderful memory you have. Once again, you are making it difficult for the rest of us to come up to your standard on the project. Also going full speed ahead, we will never catch up.

SubeeSews said...

Thanks for your positive post about my circle piecing. Since I mastered circles maybe I can be more unafraid to try applique?!?! I have always wanted to but do not have the guts to try. Your applique is too beautiful for words.
Subee

Judy said...

My grandmother had a big grape arbor in her backyard that we played under all the time and always ended up with purple behinds from sitting on smashed fallen grapes! I remember her making grape jam in the old Flinstones jars that started out holding pimento cheese and then recycled with jam and the tops were covered with an inch thick layer of parafin wax to seal the jam.

Deborah in Atlanta said...

I just discovered your blog and have been reading through the old postings. When I got to the Farmerks Market block for the grapes, I was hooked! It's my favorite. So I clicked on Pat Sloan's site, but I saw no block with grapes. Where did you get yours? Or am I being stupid again, and just looking at something wrong?