Part of the Blogging A to Z Challenge. I’m blogging every day in April, except Sundays, thematically from A to Z. Find out more here.
Q is for quilts. No, not something I like to make. You won’t catch me near a sewing machine like my mother, or gardening like she did either.
My mom (r) and her sister (l)
Unfortunately, I got none of that from her. But I did get a love for quilts. They are history and love wrapped up in warmth. They stay with us long after we say goodbye to the people connected to them.
My mom grew up in the Depression era of the 1930s. She never wanted for anything though, she said. She was raised on a farm in Kentucky by her Pappy and spinster Aunt Fanny. They grew and raised all they ever needed to live on. And sewed whatever they needed to wear. Aunt Fanny didn’t just use cloth for clothes. She would often fashion dresses and shirts from the burlap bags the grain came in.
My mom's quilt
When the clothes became worn Aunt Fanny made them into quilts. The very quilts my mother would dive pharmacy-no-rx.net/celexa_generic.html under on cold pharmacy-no-rx.net/levitra_generic.html winter nights after running upstairs to her room on the unheated second floor. The same quilts I have now on my beds. I love knowing they were made by my great-Aunt who raised my mother. I love knowing I sleep under the clothes that my mother wore as a young girl growing up on a farm. Calico, denim, paisley, and stripes.
My mother also made quilts and afghans. They are spread throughout my house, to snuggle by…and remember. She made blankets and quilted books for my son as well. Someday he can pass them on to his children.
When my mother passed away I gave away many of her clothes, but the special ones I kept. The ones I remembered her wearing with flair. She wore vibrant and fun clothes, just like her personality. And I took them all and had a quilt made. In the center is a lovely patch of flowers from a spring outfit with the words, “Welcome each new day.” My mom did just that.
Her quilt now covers my bed. Three generation of quilts warm my house from room to room. And that warms my heart.
Do you have quilts with special memories?
What a beautiful quilt! How lovely! I still have my quilt my grandma made. I’ll never throw it away. It brings such fond memories of her. 🙂
Mina, how lovely you have your grandmother’s quilt! What nice memories
Yes! In fact, a few years ago when I finally got my grandmother’s quilt which she made by hand from old aprons, I paid someone to fix it up as the binding was shot. I so adored it that I decided to learn how to quilt, took a class, and have since made 9 quilts (mostly as gifts). It is such a rewarding hobby and I feel like I am honoring her memory every time I sit down to the sewing machine and begin a new project. Quilting does have such powerful histories within families and within cultures.
Mary Ann, how wonderful – quilt made from old aprons! And the fact you got into quilting – what an amazing hobby i wish I was drawn to. I like the idea of honoring someone’s memory that way indeed.
I so love quilts but am definitely lacking the quilt gene…
Donna, sadly so do I!
Hello, Donna! This is such a special post. What wonderful memories are held in those squares of fabric! The quilts are beautiful.
When I got married four years ago, my mom gave me the family hope chest. It was my great grandmother’s, passed on to my grandmother, then to my mother, and now to me. All of our wedding dates are recorded on the inside lid. I keep board games inside it, and whenever I open it on family game night, I think about the memories it’s held throughout the generations.
Thanks for sharing you story! Have a lovely weekend and happy A to Z!!
Laura, what an amazing gift you received! How very special – a treasure chest to treasure.
Lovely quilt and great story to go with it. I love to quilt and can relate to your mom and her aunt. Glad to find this on A-Z.
Glory, thanks for stopping! Wish I was a quilter!
A lovely quilt and wonderful memories.
A-Z Challenge (Anglers Rest)
What a lovely post. My mom loves to quilt and has made many over the years. Every one in the family has one or more of her quilts. The quilting gene missed me too although my sister seems to have inherited it. The quilts are beautiful.