de Jong Dream House: Grandma's Kitchen, block #19: Mending Basket

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Grandma's Kitchen, block #19: Mending Basket

I have a secret...I have finished all my blocks for Grandma's Kitchen! Before the big reveal--unless you've already seen it on my social media--I still have a few blocks to share.

The block above is number 19 of Pat Sloan's Grandma's Kitchen sew along, Mending Basket.

I don't really remember Gramma Ann having a mending basket, but I'm sure she did. Like many of her peers who grew up in the years after the Depression, Gramma was a very thrifty person. She reused aluminum foil, baggies, and anything else she could.

Gramma did a basket of scrubbies though. She loved crocheting these things. It wasn't Christmas if I didn't have a scrubbie in my stocking. She also sold them whenever she could find a buyer.

The last time I visited her in her home in Arizona, she tried to teach me to crochet. All I made was a giant knot of netting so she gently suggested that I find another hobby. I made my first quilt shortly after I returned home. I bet she would be shocked to learn that this block is part of my 100th quilt!

One of the last big projects Gramma crocheted was a baby blanket for my son. She wasn't able to attend his dedication, but she sent the blanket with my mom so part of her was with us that day.

Three generations, with a nod to the fourth.

It also makes an appearance in my favorite picture of D with my dad.

It was the perfect lightweight blanket when D was little and it loved it well. So well that at one point it put a hole in it and I had to put in his memory box until I find someone who can repair it.