30th November was my Nan Pearl's birthday so today I am remembering her by sharing another lovely thing she made, that I am lucky enough to still have.

This patchwork bedspread was made using the English paper piecing method and was hand stitched by my Nan for me back in the 70's. I have no idea how long it took her, must have been months and months.

I have mixed feeling about this, I wasn't allowed to put it on my bed when I was first given it. I was about 7 or 8 and my mum was worried I would damage it somehow. She was probably right, I often ended up with felt tip pens or crayon on my bedlinen and I even cut a hole in something once (by mistake of course) By the time I was old enough to be trusted not to wreck it I only used it for a short time before fashion changed and we all started to have duvets or quilts instead of sheets and blankets. You must remember at this point I am a UK child of the 1970's!

The good news is it is not wrecked, the bad news is it has not been used and therefore enjoyed much.

The patchwork is a walk down memory lane for me, so many bits of fabric that are from clothes I remember. I can see lots of bits from clothes I had, a few of my grandad's shirts, fabric that my dolls had dresses made from etc.

It's bright, there is no getting away from that, it was the 70's after all!

I also love how my nan didn't worry about having 2 hexagons of the same fabric next to each other, she was not one to spend lots of time on fancy things like design and colour balance.

It is backed with a big piece of seriously retro print, and has a ruffled valance to hide all the stuff that was under my bed at the time.

I am wondering if I should do something with this bedspread. We don't have any single beds in our house now, hence the photos of it draped on the sofa and laid out on the floor!

At the moment it is in a bag in the wardrobe. That seems a waste, but I'm not sure if I could bring myself to chop into it to make it into something we can actually use today. That said, I can almost hear my nan telling me not to be so silly. She never had any problem refashioning and recycling pretty much anything.

Any brilliant ideas would be welcome.

For now I am happy it has had a airing, is being shared here today and helping me to remember my nan, Pearl.

You can read the other stories I've shared about things made by the women who inspired Sum of their Stories here.

update:

I've actually gone and done it! A massive thank you to everyone who left suggestions, tips and ideas. You can see what I ended up doing here.

Julie