…Aunt Marti, who blogs at 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks. Better not start using EQ7 until after you’ve finished all 52, Marti – you might just get sidetracked!

There were so many wonderful stories in the comments – here’s what Aunt Marti had to say:

The quilt I’d like to tell you about was made by my great-grandmother, Mary Gehman Horning. In 1896. That’s right — 1896. Mary lived up in the mountains of Colorado, where my great-grandfather was a coal miner. He was a bit of a “roundheel,” which is code for “he ran around.” She was left to raise her four children on her own for months at a time.
She pieced two quilts from indigo fabrics and muslin, completely by hand and heavily quilted. When my Aunt Frances was moving out of her house, she offered me one of the two quilts, saying her daughters weren’t interested in having them (!) I chose the Double Irish Chain — she wanted to wash it before she gave it to me, as it had a smallish stain on one corner. I shrieked, “No, no, not necessary!” and convinced her not to put it through the washing machine. When I brought the quilt back to Colorado, I had it appraised by a Certified Quilt Appraiser, Bobbie Aug. After talking about the fabric, the design, the stitching and the hand-quilting, she asked me if I had an idea what it might be worth. I answered, “Oh, I think with all the quilting, it should be worth about $400-$500.”
She replied, “I am putting an appraised value on this quilt of $3600. You have a treasure I will never have, a quilt from your own family.”
It was just like on “Antiques Roadshow.” All I could say was “you’re kidding,” and “wow!”
My Aunt Frances wrote up a nice little history of Mrs. Horning and gave me a picture of my Great Grand-Mother sewing. Doubly treasured now that Aunt Frances is gone, also.
And yes, I have the quilt stored in acid-free paper in a special acid-free box!

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