I do believe that my grandmother, Ella Mae Shirey Nichelson, must have bought at least two yards of every cotton fabric available at our McCrory' 5 & 10 back in the 1930's. She used that same fabric all the way up to the 1960's and made hundreds of quilts. My mother even used her fabric to make her only quilt.
Although the two quilts shown here were made in the early 1950's, they are made entirely of 1930's fabrics. Grandmother preferred the scrap quilts, but was known to make appliqued Sunbonnet Sues and Umbrella Girls plus a few appliqued flower quilts. These are my favorites. The method of giving her quilts to her loved ones was simple. She waited until she had several made and then as her children came to visit, she would allow them to choose the one they wanted. One day Mom and I visited and she brought out several quilts. Mom told me to choose one. I zeroed in on these two and had a tough time deciding, but finally chose the "Double Wedding Ring." A couple months later when we went to visit, she informed us that no one had chosen the "Grandmother' Flower Garden" and so if I wanted it, I could have it. What luck! I got them both!!!
As I was preparing to publish my first family history I decided to use a family quilt for the cover. Here I had to choose again. I went with my first choice from that previous experience and used the "Double Wedding Ring." This is the actual photo as it appears on my cover. The demand for my books was encouraging and through placing them in each of the libraries, historical societies and genealogy societies where I had found my information, other researchers were able to find my book and contacted me. In 1985 I published "The Rowe Addendum" to "The Marriage of Catherine & David." For the cover of this one, the choice was easy. Above is the photo used for that one and it is, of course, "Grandmother's Flower Garden." That is the "New Dawn" rose bush I planted the same year my daughter, Dawn Ranae, was born.
Below is a photograph of my grandparents, W. Braden & Ella Mae Shirey Nichelson,with their four children who received the quilts on a rotating basis. Florence, Kathryn, Parents, Erma Grace (my Mom) and Clarence in the 1940's. At that time she was still working her way through her 1930's stash. She died in 1975 at the age of 91.
