How to Make a Family Photo Collage

I have a nephew and his fiancee who are serving in the Air Force.  They have a photo wall of family members who also served in the military.  

So this year his Christmas present is framed photos of my father who served during the Korean War, my paternal grandfather who served in WWI and my maternal grandmother (Nana) who worked in the government city of Oak Ridge, TN during WWII. 

While the men's photos entailed just popping them into frames I found at Goodwill,  Nana's took a bit more work as it became a collage.

Another Goodwill frame, taken apart carefully to re-use the mat. 

I scanned original photos, cropped out Nana and put her in an oval border.  Then printed out draft images to play with positioning. 

When I had that right I printed out the photos on cardstock with the best resolution and attached the group shot behind the mat.  I put a matboard scrap in the mat cutout, placed the oval where I wanted it and traced the curved edge.  The scrap was cut out slightly smaller to fit behind the oval.  All was secured in place with crafter's tape which is only the sticky part of tape.

I printed out a name label, cut it out and glued to the mat, placed the note from Harry Truman and tacked it down with acid free glue.

Then I placed the 2 pins and pushed on them to mark where I needed to cut the holes.  The holes were just narrow slits that the pin backs could fit through.  The backing was just thin enough to let me slide a strip of cardstock through the pin back and tape it in place so I didn't have to glue the pins. 

Clean the glass well, assemble back in the frame and I used hot glue dots to hold it all in place.  Normally I use glazier points but the wood was too hard and I'm shipping this so not shifting inside the frame is a good thing.

The last step was a paper dust cover glued on the back and trimmed with a craft knife, a cardstock pocket was glued down on the sides and bottom and I printed out copies of the certificates Nana received for her work during WWII.

The government didn't tell anyone at Oak Ridge what they were building until it was all over, it was simply called the Manhattan Project - it was Atom Bomb which helped end the war.  At first she was in some type of munitions job, but because of health issues was moved to a position as a guard.  The photo is the group of women that served as guards of the 'City Behind the Fence'.

My grandfather was a fireman in Oak Ridge during that time and my mother was a teenager.  What a strange life it must have been.  The pictures of the houses look like FEMA houses.

Digging Up a Family Scandal?

Most of you probably don't know but I am an avid genealogist and have been for about 30 years.  It is addicting especially for those that love a good mystery and puzzles.  Yup, I'm one of those kind of people.

I spent a little time this last week digging deeper into my Hawthorne line (no relation to the author).  And found records that tell an interesting story that was probably a scandal at the time.

I had a great great great aunt Minnie who was born in 1880. She married a man named William.  They had 3 children who were all teens in 1920.  Unfortunately this happy family must not have been all that happy as Minnie and William divorced in November of 1924.

Then she gets married again, on Christmas Eve of the same year, 1924!  How romantic to marry on Christmas Eve you say, but how did she find someone so quickly?  

The story deepens and reads like any soap opera you've ever seen.  The man she married was named George and he was 11 years older than Minnie.  Interestingly though, he got divorced in November of 1924 as well!

Now I've seen heard enough to make an educated guess how this all came about.  George had been married for almost 40 years and had at least one child.  He did stay with Minnie until they both passed on in the 1950s so maybe it was true love after all.

But I feel pretty sad for the spouses that got left behind and the children who had to endure it all.

Journey Through Time Quilt is Finished

The Journey Through Time quilt is finally completed.

And Chaucer approved!

It's almost square and slightly wonky as one edge stretched out a bit wider, but you only notice when you fold it so that's ok.  I am a practical quilter, no trying to go for prizes, just functionality.

I thought using flannel for the batting would make a lightweight quilt but it has turned out just the opposite.  This thing is very heavy.  So it's new home is decorating the back of the sofa.

A nice colorful addition to the living room.

Journey Through Time Quilt Update

I can see the end in sight!

(click on photo for enlargement)

This is the top, almost done, laying on my Mom's king size bed.  Looks like she will get to use it as it is so huge.

The back showing how I used the extra squares.  The orange outlined area on the left is the part that still needs quilting.  It's really almost done!

Thought I would show you some closeups.  I love angels and this is a piece of what used to be a tablecloth I made.

I used to make sock bunnies...lots of them...like over 300 of them...until they stopped making the socks I used...so this bunny is in remembrance.  I really like the blue floral at the bottom too, I had a favorite dress once that was similar fabric.

I love kitties, so kitty angels are perfect.

This batik fish is just too cool.

Another angel in my favorite colors.

Those novelty prints from the 50's & 60's are always so cute and happy.

The snowflakes remind me of MI winters, the psychedelic swirl is like some of the music I used to listen to and the colored squares remind me of the colors in our kitchen when I was a kid.

A pumpkin for my favorite season of Autumn.

Love the batik tree branches and the regal sun.

Purple chrysanthemum, my favorite color and my birth month flower.

The cute elephant is for Nana, she liked elephants.

I've also added a page at the top which lists all the posts about this quilt.

Little Update on the Journey Through Time Quilt

I've been working my way across the bottom of the quilt, out from the center to keep the tension of the fabric correct. I used large safety pins to keep it all in place and as I get to the edges I remove pins and adjust the fabric in the hoop.

This is the section I started on this morning.  I'm still quilting in outlines some squares just to be different.  Here I went in a circle around the angel.

It's cold in the 50's and windy today, I think I will stay inside and quilt some more.

Journey Through Time Quilt Update

Here's an update on my quilt project which has been a little slow due to gardening time.

Everything above the yellow line is quilted including about half way out on the sides.  I'm working on the section that's in the hoop, so I'd say I'm more than 1/3 done but not quite half way.

Here's part of the back,  you can see stripes on the left and the sun face between the squares stripes, sort of.

Here's another square I quilted the fabric pattern on, it's in the center of the photo.

(internet photo)

And we have new visitors to Dad's feeding area, yellow headed blackbirds.  That yellow really stands out amongst the wrens and red winged blackbirds.  Nothing is brighter except the male cardinals.

Quilting Progress on the Journey Through Time

The quilt top is done and Chaucer approves.

I borrowed an idea from pinterest for the backing to use up the left over squares.

I used white flannel for the batting as I didn't need another heavy quilt.

I'm quilting now in a simple criss cross pattern from corner to corner with an occasional odd square like this sun face that called out to be different.

Here's what the back looks like, I am quite pleased.

There was no way I was going to be able to line up the squares on the back so the quilting would match, but I think it is fine the way it is.  Also, I am a practical quilter and not a perfectionist.  My stitches are varying lengths and not always in a perfectly straight line and I rather like it that way, it's more handmade looking to me.

Names Added to the Journey Through Time Quilt Top

I've started adding the names of the women in my ancestry to the plain off-white squares of the quilt top.

(click on the photos to enlarge it)

I started with myself, my Mom and my 2 grandmothers in the 4 center squares as seen above.

Then I just started branching out in no set pattern.

I experimented with printing and cursive styles before I did any on the quilt top and settled on my usual printing with my more cursive capital letters.  I rather like the inconsistencies.

I'm about halfway done with the squares.  As you can see, my ancestors are from all over the place.  Great Aunt Sallie Greer is the only woman that is not a direct line, she was my great grandmother's sister who never married and I have a quilt top she made from feed sacks that is more holes than not.

I'm hoping to have the names part done by next week.

Journey Through Time Quilt Top Done!

Well here she is, the Journey Through Time quilt top.  I spread it across my parents' king size bed to take the photo.  I was not intending it to be this large so it will net be getting any borders, just a binding sash.

My next step will be to add the names of the women in my ancestry to the plain off white squares.

Tennessee in Oyster Stitch

Or at least outlined in oyster stitch.

Oyster stitch was another fiddly stitch but I like how it looks, I can see many uses and designs for this one.  I used 3 strands of cotton floss but pearl cotton would have been a better choice.  Since I am using what I have without buying anything else, it will have to do.

click the pic to see it larger

My history for this week: July 24, 1866 was the day that Tennessee was re-admitted to the Union after the Civil War, the first state to be re-admitted.  That may have something to do with TN being a state that was split over loyalties, literally brother fought brother, one in blue and one in gray.  My father's family is from the northeast corner of TN and my ancestors fought for the North.  My mother's family is from the southwest corner of VA that you see in the embroidery and those ancestors fought for the South. 

my gt grandfather Amos McClain

I have been working on family genealogy for over 25 years and it is a never ending puzzle and challenge.  I have farmers and laborers galore in my tree along with at least one slave owner, a couple of blacksmiths, a roofer from Switzerland and the owner of the first ordinary (tavern) in Plymouth.  One line does go back to some nobles in England and if the histories I have found are true I even have a couple of saints and some royalty - even if it is descended from the wrong side of the sheets.  

Then there is that troubling brick wall that no one seems to be able to get past on the McClain side.  My ggg grandfather just will not be found, poor Henry, he might be lost forever.