Why I Love Quilts
By Rayellen Smith
I don't have a picture of this quilt = so I uploaded a photo of me!
Quilts are usually made by women. They are made for a purpose: to look at, to love, to warm and to hold dear. They tell the stories of their makers in each patch and stitch. Quilts are stories without the words.
The old quilts are the best- the ones where the fabrics don’t match, or not to today's standards. They evoke the practicality of the making, the struggle in it, and the usefulness of it.
I was once asked to repair an old quilt by a neighbor who heard I liked to sew. It was lovely, hand pieced and quilted about 60 years old. It had been used almost daily for a great number of those years. It was well worn from being on beds, wiping up big spills, and covering windows in winter. One look and I knew this would be a lot of work. My husband was afraid if I agreed that the neighbor would just be back for more free work. I did it anyway. The patches were worn and many needed replacing. The tiny quilting stitches were hard for me to replicate since I am not that good at hand quilting. But the work and love that was in this fabric told a story and I wanted to know it.
I asked my neighbor to tell me about this quilt. How had she used it? Where did it come from? All she could tell me was that it belonged to her husband and that his grandmother had made it. She had used it when they were first married and her kids had picked it up as they grew. It was a household quilt. But I wanted to know the woman who made it. Where did she live? How many kids did she have? What was her life like - on a prairie? In a city? My neighbor could not tell me.
I worked on that quilt many evenings in front of the television watching BBC TV after a 14-hour-day of work and commuting of my own. I took apart squares, added fabric to replace the worn, pulled out stitches and replaced them. It lay over my lap, draping onto the floor as I worked. I caressed the fabric she stitched, I pulled the thread she sewed, I cut and inserted her fabric where she had worked to cut and insert fabric. I tried to understand her- but couldn't.
I asked my neighbor to tell me about her - she did not know her story. I asked my neighbor to ask her husband about her-she looked at me funny. I gave up.
I finished repairing the quilt - and showed her how to store it. I brought her a needle and thread and taught her how to make further repairs. I wanted to make sure the love in its making would continue into the love in its use. My neighbor won't repair it - but that's ok. She loves it in her way - loved it enough to ask me to repair it - it's in good hands.
I love quilts. I love to make them, to think about them, to snuggle them and to learn their stories. I make mine for my family and for babies. I don't have any of my good ones for myself. My daughter and son have them, my Mom has one, my sister has some small ones (she's due a big one). And I don't have time to make the ones I plan. But quilts are women’s legacy. So cheers to the women who make them to keep their families warm in winter, out of practicality, stitch by stitch of love. I love them for the stories, and the women and the good hands they are in.
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.jpg "2019 Sponsor - BERNINA Q 24")
