When I was a novice quilter, back in the late 80's, I depended on television to learn. Eleanor Burns's TV show was excellent for this, and to this day I recommend
Quilt In A Day books and patterns to beginners. She did a Roman Stripe quilt, and I decided to make it. I am not sure what drove the color choices, but my mom really liked this when it was almost finished. Except she and my father had just bought a long bed. So I had to figure how to add borders to a finished quilt. The other television show I watched was
Simply Quilts with
Alex Anderson. On one of her shows she demonstrated seminole piecing, which appears in both the upper and lower borders.
My sister-in-law Kim returned this quilt to me after my mom died. My sister Paula chimed in and said she would like it - she has a pinkish guest bedroom and is trying to minimize the pink. But I couldn't let her take the quilt just yet. I made this quilt in 1991, waaaaay before I knew how to do a lot of things properly. Most of the quilt is in good shape (except for the early primitive straight-line channel quilting). But not the borders. They are badly frayed because I didn't understand the importance of double-fold binding.
So I will cut off the old binding and replace it and then give the quilt to Paula. In Dickens'
Great Expectations there is a minor character John Wemmick who has an aged and dotty father whom he called Aged P. Mr. Wemmick tells Pip, "Nod away at him, Mr. Pip, he likes that." Sometimes I would refer to my parents as the Aged P's - and not behind their backs either. My mom refused to wash this quilt for fear it would lose its beauty. So sometimes I would sneak in, get the quilt, wash and dry it, and get it back before she noticed. The title for this quilt is apt, and I am pleased that Paula wants it and will use it.
