When I give to you what I make with my hands, I share with you my heart.
Anonymous
Hand-made quilts have always been a wonder to me: Tiny stitches close together forming a pattern of their own. Stitched by a hard-working person who had no more time than what I have now. And a utilitarian piece prized as much for its workmanship as it was for pattern, size, and detail.
On the one hand, prized antique quilts (as well as new ones are today) were made for warmth and stability, sometimes out of scraps, whatever was handy.
But on the other hand, they were also works of art: delicate stitches that formed lines and curves, boxes and angles, pleasing to the eye as well as something to keep a person warm.
As many of us are “sheltered in place” during the time of Coronavirus, we’re taking out our unfinished pieces of handwork and doing as women (and men, too) did years ago: we’re stitching quilts to leave for the next generation.
Although I never met the woman who made this Sawtooth Star quilt in the 1830s, she is a person dear to my heart: talented in working with her hands, but also patient, exacting, and persistent to the end . . . sharing with unknown heirs-to-be her heart as well as her hands.
Rusha Sams
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CompassAndCamera
What a beautiful quilt and your close-up photos show such great detail. Wouldn’t you love to know what was happening in her life as every stitch was placed?
Oh, the Places We See
I would love to know a lot about this talented lady. She was a relative of my husband, but all we have from her is one piece of paper pinned to this quilt. Not much info on the paper either. Oh, why didn’t we ask Bert’s mother more questions???
CompassAndCamera
Oh, my gosh. What a mystery! Have you ever tried ancestry for connecting your family tree? I found some verrrry interesting things about my family history (one of my relatives was a songwriter during the civil war) and my husband’s family history (he descended from a wealthy baron whose children never received his fortune). Fascinating. Maybe you can find out more about the quilter? Just an idea!
Oh, the Places We See
You know, you have a great point there. We may try to sniff out some more info on this talented lady. Thanks for the encouragement.
Curt Mekemson
Peggy has been quilting now for several years, Rusha. This past year all five of our grandsons got quilts for Christmas, and I must say, loved them. Now she is working on one for our son-in-law. He wanted to know why he hadn’t been made one yet. đŸ™‚ I have two that I am always using. Have you ever been to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky? It’s amazing. –Curt
Oh, the Places We See
I loved the blue patchwork quilt you showed in a previous post. And I admire and respect anyone who takes on the art if quilting by machine or by hand. Treasure the work Peggy is doing. It’s hard and exacting, bot oh, so lovely.
dawnkinster
I have always loved quilts, though I don’t have the patience to make one. My mom made them out of scraps from the clothes she made all 4 of her kids. She just cut the leftover fabric into postcard size rectangles, and then sewed strips of those, then sewed the strips together…I think the back was a sheet and she pulled tufts of string or yarn or heavy thread threw all over to quilt it together. We could find our own clothes in the fabric and that was fun. I wonder what happened to all of those. I think they were a product of not having money for bedspreads, and not wanting to waste anything at all.
Oh, the Places We See
Quilters are thrifty and they save/ use sooooo many little scraps!!
Joanne
Lovely thoughts Rusha. I used to do quilt making after college.