03/31/2024
My grandmother had one hanging in there House
Good morning! The recent picture of embroidery was not my work although I have done those same patterns. I am not home and did not have an embroidery pic with me, although I love it and have done it all of my life.
I collect the pillow cases and I use them as well. I guess my favorite thing to do is to quilt by hand. It is becoming a lost art though, I think. Many make the quilt tops but most have them done by machine. When I recently attended a fall
Festival in my home town, called Swapping Meeting, I think only one quilt was done by hand. Actually there were very few quilts on display in an area that once was noted for beautiful hand made quilts. A favorite was the coal miners quilt but I did not see one this time. It was very sad to realize that so few carry on the tradition. Quilting by hand for me is a stress reliever. I’m not perfect at it but that’s ok. I love doing it!
Both of my grandmothers and my mother quilted by hand. I think most of the women in our neighborhood either quilted or knew how to do so. One girl, Gayle Morris, quilts beautifully. She learned from her mother and she has taught her daughter to do so as well. She sews beautifully as well. Gayle’s grandmother was my grandmother’s stepmother. She had close Indian ancestry, according to a cousin. She married my great grandfather after his wife died in childbirth and the baby with her. She finished raising three little girls and a little boy. She had one son before she married my grandfather and had three more children by him before he died In a storm while out hunting. She had three more daughters after remarrying after my grandfather died. I don’t know if she had any sons. All of her daughters could sew and quilt beautifully. Gayle’s grandmother was a wonderful woman and she raised the children of two of the men she married that were not her own and she raised them well.
Women in days gone by learned early that quilting served more than the purpose of keeping their children warm. It brought beauty into their home, it served the purpose of not being wasteful and it was a beautiful form of artistic expression! It also served to calm the soul. It soothe the fears that women faced every day throughout the history of our country. As men faced battles, wives and mothers took up their needles and thread as their tears fell like rain. Quilts were used In the Underground Railroad when slaves were escaping. If things were unsafe a certain type of quilt would be hung on the clothes line , if it was safe for them, another type or color would be hung out to dry. They kept a close eye on the quilts in the yards of safe houses. Many people believe that quilts are healing…prayers interwoven with every stitch. My wonderful friend Laura does amazing quilts and she is in her eighties.
I hope that more young people learn the soothing quality of a needle and thread woven in and out in a perfect or imperfect stitch to form a beautiful work of art. Have a beautiful day. It looks rainy here in SC.
