52 Ancestors: Craft

I've been out of the blogging mode for a few weeks and thus, my brain is a little foggy and out of practice so I'll start back simple this week.

I've written before about my paternal grandmother, Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy, being crafty.  Which as anyone who knew her can attest to, she NEVER came across as crafty and until a few years before her death, I had no idea she ever worked with her hands.  I wrote about it HERE.

Apparently, there were a few of my maternal ancestors who were crafty - my great grandmother, Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald and her mother, Rebecca (Waller) McAboy.  Their craft of choice was quilting!  I am always in awe when I see hand made quilts and while I don't have that gene in my body, I'm proud to be the owner of some of their quilts.

I am nearly positive that this quilt was crafted by my maternal great grandmother, Mabel Viola (McAboy) Fitzgerald.  Mabel was alive until I was almost 12 years old and I remember her quite clearly.  She was the type of grandmother children would be thrilled to know- interested in what we were doing, patient, and loving.  I can remember many a day being sick on the couch covered by this quilt.  I'm sure I knew that it was crafted by my great grandmother and could feel her arms wrapped around me, instantly making me feel better.

Handmade by Mabel Viola (McAboy) Fitzgerald

Mabel Viola (McAboy) Fitzgerald

I'm not nearly as confident but I think this was also Mabel's handiwork.

I can't imagine the endless hours spent putting these two quilts together.

The quilting gene must have been passed down to her from her mother, Rebecca Mariah (Waller) McAboy.  Rebecca was the daughter of my favorite ancestor, Emery Waller.  While I've not seen a photo of Emery, I can almost visualize (my dad's favorite expression) him when I look into Rebecca's eyes.  And thanks again to my cousin, Kris, for sharing this photo with me!

Rebecca Moriah (Waller) McAboy
c. 1920

In 2012, we cleaned out the storage unit where my parents had been storing things for 30 years, never to see the light of day.  I was amazed that these quilts were in such great condition considering they'd just been thrown into a cardboard box.  Fortunately my mother was still living and she was able to tell me "I think these were made by Mabel's mother, Rebecca".  So I have no confirmation but I just have to believe Mabel's craft gene was passed down from her mother.  Once I got the quilts home I took them to the dry cleaners and since I've had them home, I have not wanted to take them out of the plastic bags.  I know it's not the best preservation method but it's much better than a cardboard box!

I've done some crafting over the years but these days, I've all but given it up.  Sadly, the quilting gene has died in our family as none of us ever got the bug.