Gosh, it's been over a half year. I've had the best intentions, but life got in the way. I've started a new job since I made my last post, and I've had some time to adjust to that job. I work evenings and afternoons, so there's been some adjustment from a 9 to 5 mentality. Shortly after I started this blog, I began working on some family genealogy. I located some pictures which got me to starting on a new project.
I've recently dug out a quilt that my deceased grandmother had started. She's been dead nearly 13 years.
My grandmother, Ruth Arvel Wallace Bolen, grew up in Odd, Raleigh County, West Virginia. Born in 1911, she was one of three daughters of Levi and Coralie Wallace. She married at a young age to Roy Carl Bolen, and had 5 children. Here's a photo of some of the family in the early 1950's.
My Dad, Toxey (yes, unusual!) is on the left, with my uncle Jack, my grandfather, Roy Carl, and son Ronald on the right. This was taken probably in the mid 1940's.
When my grandfather died in a mining accident in 1949, she began working as a cook at Odd Elementary School. Granny's in the middle of this photo.
When her children moved to Chicago, she followed them in 1955. My father found work at Teletype Corporation in Skokie, IL. Ruth (aka "Granny") found work in their cafeteria there. She eventually moved to a wiring assembler position in the plant. She worked there approximately 20 years, until she was diagnosed with macular degeneration. This insidious disease robbed her of her ability to work. She retired, legally blind, but determined not to sit around and do nothing. She took up quilting again.
Now, she had sewn for years, making me dresses as a child. I used her sewing machine to complete my home ec class in Junior High, sewing a hideous outfit in polyester. (Hey, it was the 70's. I plead insanity!) Fortunately, no photographic evidence of the outfit in its full, vivid glory exists. I do still have the calico top I made to go with the marigold yellow polyester pants. (Baggy Elephant style....sigh.)
She'd quilted back in WV, but hadn't worked on any quilts since her move to Chicago. She bought fabric. Lots of fabric. She made a quilt for pretty near anyone who wanted one. I believe each grandchild received one, and each of her children. That's 19 quilts.
Sure, her seams weren't the best. Her accuracy and technique were off, but with macular degeneration robbing her of eyesight, she did pretty darn good.
She retired with her disability sometime in the mid-70's. I recognize the suitcase on the right. That was one she used continuously for nearly 30 years. Another suitcase usually accompanied her, which carried the material and other items she required for quilting. I don't know where this was taken, but it wasn't at our home.
She's working on "Trip Around the World" here. I don't know who this quilt went to.
The quilt she was working on was the courthouse steps, but with my grandmother's own unique variation. I began the quilt right around what would have been her 101st birthday, March 6, 2012.
I've recently dug out a quilt that my deceased grandmother had started. She's been dead nearly 13 years.
My grandmother, Ruth Arvel Wallace Bolen, grew up in Odd, Raleigh County, West Virginia. Born in 1911, she was one of three daughters of Levi and Coralie Wallace. She married at a young age to Roy Carl Bolen, and had 5 children. Here's a photo of some of the family in the early 1950's.
Granny is in the middle here, with my Grandmother Coralie Wallace to her right. The young girl on the left is her niece, Bernice Vaughnette, and to my Granny's left is her daughter Joyce, and son Ronald. This was taken before 1955.
My Dad, Toxey (yes, unusual!) is on the left, with my uncle Jack, my grandfather, Roy Carl, and son Ronald on the right. This was taken probably in the mid 1940's.
When my grandfather died in a mining accident in 1949, she began working as a cook at Odd Elementary School. Granny's in the middle of this photo.
When her children moved to Chicago, she followed them in 1955. My father found work at Teletype Corporation in Skokie, IL. Ruth (aka "Granny") found work in their cafeteria there. She eventually moved to a wiring assembler position in the plant. She worked there approximately 20 years, until she was diagnosed with macular degeneration. This insidious disease robbed her of her ability to work. She retired, legally blind, but determined not to sit around and do nothing. She took up quilting again.
Now, she had sewn for years, making me dresses as a child. I used her sewing machine to complete my home ec class in Junior High, sewing a hideous outfit in polyester. (Hey, it was the 70's. I plead insanity!) Fortunately, no photographic evidence of the outfit in its full, vivid glory exists. I do still have the calico top I made to go with the marigold yellow polyester pants. (Baggy Elephant style....sigh.)
She'd quilted back in WV, but hadn't worked on any quilts since her move to Chicago. She bought fabric. Lots of fabric. She made a quilt for pretty near anyone who wanted one. I believe each grandchild received one, and each of her children. That's 19 quilts.
Sure, her seams weren't the best. Her accuracy and technique were off, but with macular degeneration robbing her of eyesight, she did pretty darn good.
She retired with her disability sometime in the mid-70's. I recognize the suitcase on the right. That was one she used continuously for nearly 30 years. Another suitcase usually accompanied her, which carried the material and other items she required for quilting. I don't know where this was taken, but it wasn't at our home.
She's working on "Trip Around the World" here. I don't know who this quilt went to.
The quilt she was working on was the courthouse steps, but with my grandmother's own unique variation. I began the quilt right around what would have been her 101st birthday, March 6, 2012.
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