We all have those relatives that we adore. Aunt Patsy was my favorite Aunt on my father’s side. She was a sweet southern woman who had the gift of gab and could cook anything and make it amazing, and loved to tend to her flowers. She would meet you at the door in her muumuu, so excited you had come to visit and hug you soundly and give you a big kiss. She welcomed you in, asked if you were hungry or thirsty. She was an amazing woman who exuded love. Now don’t get me wrong, she was a sweet southern lady, but she also didn’t suffer fools and wasn’t afraid to call a spade a spade. She could have the Holmes temper (Holmes was her madien name and while I never saw may aunt show her temper, I had seen my father and I can image it was a family trait….something I fear was passed down to me 😀 )
Some of my fondest memories would be staying at my aunt’s house. While it was great to visit, staying overnight meant you got to get up the next morning to one of aunt Patsy’s amazing breakfasts. In the middle of her large kitchen sat a big dining table and it would be full of freshly cooked items prepared with love. Buttermilk biscuits, sausage, bacon, eggs, pancakes. She would fill the dining table full of these amazing eats and we would walk around and fix a plate. It was the place where everyone converged, visiting and eating, while my aunt would be cooking or making sure everyone had enough.
My aunt passed away on March 26, 2017. While visiting after the funeral I thought about all of her muumuus. She LOVED her a muumuu, and she had many. I gathered them up and took them home. My aunt and her grand daughter had a very special relationship. I decided to take them and make them into a memory quilt for her. It was a long process, many of the muumuus were well loved and almost threadbare. I had to stabilize them and enforce them with fusible fabric. Below is what I came up with. I added the sashing and border fabrics to bring it all together.
I hope her grand daughter loves it. It goes on the frame tomorrow and will be quilted. Then we’ll take the 2 hour trip north to drop it off.
I still have so many fond memories of my visits to my aunt in Fort Atkinson, Iowa. My aunt’s southern voice that would rise and fall in a melodic way as she spoke (Think Susan Sugarbaker 🙂 ). My uncle Jim with his deep resonating voice, in his rocking chair, smoking his pipe. The ticking of their mantle clock in the living room. It’s funny the things you remember, and others you don’t. But you remember the feeling you had when you were there, and it was a feeling of love and family.
