Quilting

Quilting is something that was started by Grandma Martin. She had a quilt up as long as Mom can remember. Mom would lie under the quilt and watch Grandma quilt. She would often sleep under the quilt. Brother N has similar memories; he says that he remembers the sleepovers we would have under the quilts. We all loved to sleep under the tent created by the quilt. Brother N likes to be the first to sleep “under” the quilt. When mom got big enough she would help Grandma. Now, nobody has a quilt up as much as Grandma did. In fact, we still have a ton of Grandma’s quilt tops that need to be quilted. So we should have them up more often. 

Even though quilts aren’t up as much I have still learned to quilt. I have made my own quilt to take to college and Mom helped my best friend, make a matching quilt. Normally, when one of Mom’s sisters finishes a quilt top we will all arrange a day and go sit around the quilt and talk while we quilt and help finish the quilt. Last year I made myself a quilt to put on my bed when I get married (GIRLS! We are so funny!) this was no small undertaking, by the time I got the top finished I was amazed at how much I still had ahead of me. I put the quilt on the frame and worked on it, and then after it had been up for about a week Mom’s sisters started appearing day after day and it was done in no time. Quilting has taught us more than just the skill of sewing; it has taught us what is important in life. When we were quilting my quilt not only Mom’s sisters came but their kids as well. It has always been fun to gather and talk while we quilted. It was always a good excuse to get together, which sometimes a good excuse is needed. But never had I realized how much service it was until it was my own quilt. And then I learned what it was like to have someone do something nice for you (especially if they enjoyed it). Sometimes it is good to be on the receiving end of service, you learn a ton! 

Recently we have started getting together as cousins and making baby quilts for our cousins that are pregnant. Here we teach some of the younger girls the skills that we have picked up on from our mothers. I think that in our family it has helped tie us together and made us all feel like one big family. Quilting is something we all have in common. Quilting has been one way we can express to our extended family that we are here if they need our help. It has been fun to learn to quilt and to participate in such a long standing tradition. I love this tradition; it has given me a chance to get know Grandma Martin better, even though she died 12 years ago. The evidence of this tradition is on beds in our home, and in boxes and boxes of quilts tops that haven’t been finished, and in the quilts that we throw on the ground at fireworks and picnics. This tradition is strong enough that when Sarah married Josh she asked if I would make them a quilt to put on their bed. This is the one thing she wanted for their wedding present. I laughed and asked her why, seeing as she already had a suitable bed spread for a queen sized bed and she reminded me of what I should have already known. It just isn’t the same, especially in a family like mine where quilting is such a big deal. This is a tradition that I am afraid may die sooner than it should, just because none of us are as big as quilters as Grandma was and so the tendency will be for our children to be even less inclined. But it will be well preserved in the quilts left behind. Quilts made in our family are more than just quilts. They are a reflection of personality and also a reflection of the past. Aunt Emma has a quilt that was made out of all Grandma’s old dresses, she did this in the depression when they didn’t have the money to buy new cloth for a new quilt. A while back Aunt M wrote us a letter about a quilt exhibit she went to in New York. The quilts were depression era quilts and her tour guide marveled at the genius of the women who made these quilts and put bursts of color here and there with random pieces of cloth, we all laughed when we heard this, because these women were not being modernistic in their way of thinking they were being idealistic and used what ever the clothe they had kicking around the house. The quilts continue to tell stories. We have denim quilts made out of our families old jeans. Mom made a 2000 quilt with 2 each of 1000 different pieces (it is like an eye spy quilt). It is great fun to go find pieces from our old clothes, past quilts, or projects from the past. Quilting is more than just a hobby, it, like so many other traditions, is an expression of who we are as a family.