12/29/2023
I am working on something really special while I'm waiting on my back to get better. This old quilt was made by my Great-Grandma Dollie Moss for a baby gift to my cousin J.D. Eller not too long before she passed away. Our "Nanny" Moss was very special. I knew and remember her well, as I was 14 when she passed. I used to stay with her a lot, and every time mom had a baby ( except for the last two) she came to help out. She was always after me to learn to sew, and once cut a shoe box full of tiny blocks for me to make a quilt. Being the 11 year old Tom boy I was, I only had maybe two blocks finished the next time she saw me. Lol, after gently scolding me, she packed the box in her suitcase and took them back home. The next time I saw her, she gave them back to me, beautifully hand-pieced in a quilt top, which was later quilted by my dad's mom after Nanny had passed.( It too needs some repair and I will show it later.)
JD asked me to try and save this treasure of his, so today, I have been taking it apart, hand -sewing rips and replacing old, worn away blocks, getting it ready for quilting. This labor of love will be a gorgeous heirloom when I am finished. Sweet, sweet memories have been coming back to me as I work. It is so strange to see my stitches next to Nanny's. Mine are not as straight as hers, but I can just see her smiling, and I know she would be proud, as well as amazed to know that I grew up to be quilter. Of course she would get after me for not using a thimble! Lol 😁 More pictures to come! Bonnie Ruble Eller