Mom

ERNESTINE LAMBERTH MANDEVILLE

NICKNAME-TEENIE-A 5 FT 2 IN SPIT FIRE OF A WOMAN

A PROLIFIC QUILTER

BORN IN 1926 AND IS NOW 81 YEARS YOUNG

As I was cleaning out my sewing room and closet recently, I came across some reminders of how talented my mom is. She is 81 now and has dimentia. She remembers very little long term and no short term. All her life she enjoyed sewing and crafting. In the 1970's when Georgia Bonesteel brought back quilting, Mom hit it with all four feet (so to speak). She made quilt after quilt and made her first quilt with coordinating purchased fabric. I couldn't tell you how many quilted coats and vests similar to the blue one below she made. Both my little boys had vests and coats along with my neice and nephew. She made my sister and I dresses with quilted yokes and me the green dress below. The bottom of the skirt is quilted as you can see fromt he close-up photo.

My mother started with embroidery work when she was just a young girl. Her handwork is beautiful as you can see on the doily. The hand applique looks more like machine than hand work.

She also pieced a quilt at this early age with her grandmother's help.

Notice her initials at the bottom right. This was done at age 13, in the late 1930s. She lived in a very small community where her father owned the only general store, her grandparents lived just up the road, and the the train roared through town at all hours of the day and night. The food was grown in a garden beside the house, the milk came from the family owned cow, and the butter was churned and tasted nothing like anything we can now buy at any store. She tells me of a time that I can only imagine how simple and beautiful it was. She recently told me of the time when she visited an aunt and uncle and watch the first TV she had ever seen. It was a very small black and white set with a very snowy picture. She remembers having to turn it off and go to bed and was upset about that. She still loves TV. It's her very favorite thing to do.

Mom's last quilt is pictured at the top of this post. She finished piecing it and quilted half of it in 1997. I finished quilting it a few years ago. When my dad passed away in 1998, Mom never quilted again. I have often thought that this was a time when she could really have gotten into all the things she loved, quilting being one of them, but she withdrew and quit doing anything.

The pictures below are of items she made during my years as a young married woman in the 1980s.

Mom made this wall hanging for my husband and I for our 10th Wedding Anniversary in 1984

This is a game quilt that mom made for my boys. The player pieces are wooden thread spools and the cards are hand written. My favorite says: "Mom decides to drive, move ahead two spaces."