Quilt Legacy

I’m really excited to tell you that today Deborah from the Whipstitch blog is sharing my quilt story with her readers! Deborah is a Super Sewist extraordinaire. Not only does she run a very popular blog, but she’s the owner of a successful fabric store and sewing lounge in Atlanta, offers in-store and online sewing classes, creates and publishes her own line of patterns, and has published her own book, Stitch by Stitch. Wow, I’m tired just writing that last sentence. So if you haven’t been, hop on over to her blog. soon.

Here’s a copy of the story I wrote:

My mother, almost 90 and suffering from Alzheimer’s for many years, passed away in January, so this spring my siblings and I took on the duty of cleaning out the family home. Cleaning out actually means vacillating between being productive, and becoming lost in warm memories. Mostly the latter was happening. As we opened one of the big boxes of bed linens, we all smiled. Here were the family quilts. Most were in pretty good condition, but the one we all loved the most was also the one that was the most tattered.

We call it The Sick Quilt, but I know that’s not a very good name. Let me explain. As children, it’s the quilt we all remember being wrapped up in and cuddled in when we were sick. When that quilt came out of the closet, we knew it meant Mom was going to take care of us till we felt better. It meant we were going to be allowed to lay on the couch and be close by Mom as she floated around the house doing all the mysterious things moms do. It meant that when Dad came home and saw us lying there, we’d get extra hugs and attention. It’s interesting how objects can bring back such vivid memories.

Well, apparently we loved that quilt almost to pieces, and now it was time to decide what to do with it. There’s hardly a square foot on it that isn’t ripped, worn through, or missing. We’re not sure if it was made by our mother or our grandmother, but it’s probably from the 1930′s or 40′s. It’s hard to tell since the fabrics are simple blue and white solids. It’s machine pieced and hand quilted. But we do know it was used to cuddle us kids starting around 1950. We don’t remember if it was worn looking even then, we only remember how good it made us feel.

As horrifying as this may be to some of you, we’ve decided that since it’s beyond repair as a quilt, we’re going to take a scissors to it to salvage what we can for pillows. Pillows each of us can treasure, pillows that can help us feel better when we’re down, pillows that remind us of our dear parents and all they did for us. What better legacy can a quilt hope for?

Leave a Comment