Flower Garden From the Dirty '30's

When Mom was growing up, she and her family lived in western Kansas for several years right in the midst of the "Dirty '30's." Of course, photos from this time period are in black-and-white, and that just adds to the atmosphere of a "depressive" time. But from hearing Mom's stories, there was plenty going on that kept life interesting. Home life, school, church, farming, visiting, babies, storms, etc.


One thing from this time that I like is the "flour sack" material that was available. Instead of paper sacks, the flour (and I think grain feed too, perhaps?) came in cloth sacks of various prints. They could then be used to make clothes, sheets, quilts, even underwear! Looking at such fabrics helps to realize there was surely plenty of color to see even in those times.


Here is a sampling of fabrics I have from that era, that I've obtained through yard sales or whatever. I really enjoy seeing these various prints, and want to make a quilt of some kind to truly reflect that time period.














This is a "Flower Garden" quilt that my Grandma Wilson made. Not only prints, but plain colors as well add to the brightness in this colorful patchwork quilt. This is one of my favorites!





A closeup of the flower blocks.




A corner of the quilt, which shows the border pieces and binding that follow the edges of the shaped blocks.

Doll Quilt

I had a couple of little doll quilts when I was little. I still have one of them - it's a colorful mix of various gingham fabrics. I'm not sure who exactly made this one, but I love the colors! So bright and vivid.



It's made up of simple squares, with machine stitching diagonally both ways through each square.



It has a narrow yellow binding to frame it.



The back is white material, with beige and blue patterns scattered here and there. I love seeing the sun shine through from the front - it has a whole different effect!