Grandma Lavelle's Dresden Plate Quilt

My grandmother, Lavelle Pyper Wallace, was renowned for her thrifty Scottish nature and her impressive baking and homemaking skills (I've talked about her before, here). When Grandma Wallace passed away, my mother inherited a "day old" bread bag filled with dresden plate quilt squares my grandmother was in the process of making.

For almost fifty years, my mother has kept these treasured quilt squares tucked away, still in the old bread bag, until she could finish the quilt her mother-in-law started.

My grandmother had sewn some of the dresden plates onto squares of muslin, but not all, so my mother carefully unattached them, sewed all the plates onto new cotton, and finished the quilt top. She just had the top machine quilted and will soon finish the binding.

All the dresden plates are different, and were made with whatever scraps of fabric my grandmother had on hand. Remnants from other projects, scraps from old clothing, or fabrics that she found at a discount or that were given to her were turned into something beautiful and useful.

I think it's amazing, Mom! Thank you for preserving and finishing what will be a new family treasure!