Revisiting the Past ~ Sew & Tell - 5/17/26

Did you miss my safari finish last week?  You can read all about it here.  As I quilted it on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was up to my ears in listening to the classic Anna Karenina.

As it turns out... I am STILL listening. I am getting there... it is not an exciting page-turner that leaves you wondering what happens in the next chapter.  Rather, it tells of ordinary, everyday life events and relationships.

As I pondered my empty design wall I decided to pull out the 20 Pieces from the Past blocks.  I embroidered names and dates of my grandparents, Phillip and Katherine Schleich, onto two of them before cutting sashing strips and cornerstones.  

As I listened to the looooong novel I recalled some of the stories of Phillp and Katie and how their families were Germans from Russia and immigrated to the US.  The story was to have taken place in the late 1870s... a couple decades earlier than my grandparents' lives began.

I couldn't help but wonder what the lives of my great grandparents as farmers in Huck Russia was like.

But before I go any further let's take a look at this week's Sew & Tell feature... Sally at Crafts, Cavies & Cooking shared her Super Nova quilt.

This is a "Bonus" quilt as it was made from pieces leftover from a king-sized quilt.  The goal of this quilt was to "use up the remaining triangles and create as few (or none!) black and grey pieces as possible." 

Did Sally achieve that goal?  Make a visit to Sally's blog to find out!  While you're there you can read about how she squared it up. :)  I have been known to use the tool and method she used... have you?

Dave and I attended a book signing event in town for an author that wrote of a novel based on a few of her ancestors that arrived in the Trinidad area from Italy in 1910 and the mystery of a family member's disappearance.  She had very few details or stories of her grandparents and her research to locate more information on them uncovered some scandalous events.  The book is a novel based on stories and while many details are historically correct, some of the stories are fictional.

She made the comment that a few times she had struggled in figuring out a logical transition from one place of the story to another and then remembered that it wasn't a memoir or a biography... it was fiction.  

It made me think of helping my mom put together some old family photos and we were unsure of the identity of one person... the photo said one name, but another duplicate photo had a different name.  What do you do in such a case???

I also thought of some of my research as I hosted Pieces from the Past... Piecing together some of the stories and actual events was something of a challenge... But I loved every minute of it!

One can have a love-hate relationship with the past.  Don't let the past define you is one saying that comes to mind.  Remember who you are, from Lion King, is another...

But what happens when you want to look to the future and a new beginning, but those from your past keep reminding you of your past? Your past choices, your past actions or inaction, in some cases... something you said that keeps haunting you... how do you get a clean slate?  Or in the case of a quilter... a blank design wall?  ;)

As I considered these thoughts (and more) my blank design wall was quickly filled with 20 blocks.  Some of them were revised or resized... All of them are now 12-inch block.  

I added sashing strips and cornerstones and am ready for final borders... and for Anna Karenina to be finished!

Time to start the party!  But before you go... leave a comment.  I'd love to hear from you!

Keep Piecing,

Melva

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