Airing the Quilts 1990
It’s just the right kind of day to air the quilts. It’s really a job to get them out to the clothesline, but I like to do this chore when its sunny and breezy. I think I’ve never seen a prettier sight than my quilts swinging in a gentle breeze – so many colors and designs. Now that I have them back in the house and am ready to refold nd pack them away, this is my special time to reminisce.
How many people have quilted on these quilts and how many different subjects have been discussed – but some of the work was done when I worked alone and with pleasure I find in no other place. As I fold this string quilt, with its colored lining, I spot a pretty brown scrap that was from a dress Beth wore when she was in first grade and there is a scrap of a jumper I made for Donna when she was in the seventh grade. Right here is a scrap of some kitchen curtains I had when we lived in the little white clapboard house in Smyrna. I get lost in a sea of memories every time I look at this one – quilts made from “saved” scraps have a way of taking one back in time the way nothing else can. Some people have pictures to remember people by, but I have these quilts as fort of an album to look at and remember family and friends of by-bone days. This Dresden Plate is so special to me – the “plates” were given to me by an elderly friend who had held onto them for years then chose me as the recipient. Yet another friend helped with the appliqué and still another quilted one block. There is as much difference in people’s quilting as there is in their handwriting.
La – this log cabin – I never will forget the making of this one. Odell Rains, of Asbury, and I both had Lockheed husbands and one fall we made six queen size log cabins. We each have two daughters and they all got a long cabin quilt for Christmas that year. And then Odell and I made us one. We had an assembly line set up and worked down to a fine point – we could machine piece the top in two days and put it in the frame, then quilt it in two days.
I remember when the ladies of the new Geraldine First Baptist Church quilted together – they could quilt two quilts in one day and I believe they charged $3.00 to quilt one. I also remember two babies that visited that group – Ann Ables and Donna Crumly. Some ladies who didn’t quilt so well would prepare the meals, using covered dishes the quilters brought in. Clerks at the businesses in the small town of Geraldine heard what good food they had at the church basement and soon even teachers and others sent for their lunch. Of course, this was prior to school lunchrooms. These ladies prided themselves in their work and I have hard Mother say to Daddy that she didn’t want to sit by Mrs. So-and-So because she made long stitches and somebody might mistake for her work. Glad I can’t remember the lady’s name. This is country living.