Pat Sloan’s Grandma’s Kitchen Challenge block of the week #6 is called Wash Day. I made the block with the yellow center first and decided it did not have enough contrast so I also made a blue center. I like the blue much better. The yellow just did not look as good sewn together as it did in my head.
Pat’s BOW comes with a story about the memories of Wash Day and here is one of mine:
My great grandparents on my mother’s side raised her after her mother died when she was a baby. Known to everyone as Ma and Pa Neal, they lived in a coal mining community in small house with a creek behind it. My Uncle Bill told everyone that they had running water but is was in the creek behind the house. The wash-house, complete with a wringer washer, big galvanized tub, and heating stove was located between the house and the creek. Water was carried from the creek to the wash house on wash day.
One of my chores while visiting was to carry water from the creek to fill the washer and rinse tub. As you might guess, it was not my favorite job. Wash day always depended on whether the creek was running clear or muddy. Muddy water would mean no wash. One day Ma told me to run down to the creek to see if the water was clear. Uncle Bill was going hunting that day and I wanted to go with him so I told Ma that they must be blasting up at the mines because the water was muddy. I know she knew better because we could hear when the blasts went off but she said that we could wash the next day. All during the hunt I worried about telling Ma a lie and the trouble I would be in if she walked to the creek and found it to be clear. As soon as we got home I ran to Ma and told her I lied about the muddy water. The next day I carried water to water all the tomatoes in the garden in addition to filling the washer and tub. I never told her a lie again.
Thanks for reading more of my memories.
Aww, Peggy. What a sweet story to share with us. I am 100% sure she knew you wanted to go hunting and let the little lie slide. I’ll bet she was just bursting with pride when you told her you had lied. That made quite an impression on you. I love the blue block – it goes better with all your other GK blocks. ~smile~ Roseanne
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Thank you Roseanne. Ma Neal wasn’t known for her kindness but she was good to me and taught me a lot.
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I love reading your blogs!! Love you! ❤️
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Thank you my sweet Glenda. I am so glad you are in my family. Love you.
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I love reading these stories from your childhood along with seeing the blocks! I do not think kids today realize what “chores” really are compared to the ones you used to do. Of course it sounds like you had cool country adventures as a kid too! I like both the blocks – the blue does “pop” more but the yellow works too 🙂
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Thanks Tierney. None of our chores were extreme but none of us were overweight. Our adults made sure we kept busy and were productive.
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lol so glad you owned up to your lie when you were a kid!
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That was much harder to do than carry water from the creek.
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yes I can well imagine. But such an important life lesson. We always told our children that we could forgive anything except a lie and I’m pleased to say, they have always been very truthful, even when it meant owning up to some thing they knew they shouldn’t have done.
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Your quilt blocks turned out wonderful! What a sweet story to share.
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Thank you Cindy. I enjoy sharing my stories.
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We had one of the wringer washers when I was really small! I agree the blue center works much better.😊 Thanks for sharing those memories!
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I love your sewing and your shares. Both of these blocks are adorable. I can relate to G’ma’s “wash day”. Mine didn’t like the newfangled machines and did her undies by hand on the wash board for as long as I can remember. Thank you for posting. ❤ cheers
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Doing great with this project.
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Thank you. So far, so good.
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