“It was an act of courage to take the scraps life provided and stitch them together, wrestling the chaos into order, taking what had been cast off and creating something from it, something useful, beautiful, and strong, something whose true value was known only to the heart of the woman who made it.”-Round Robin by Jennifer Chiaverini
There is nothing quite as beautiful to me as an old quilt. The worn fabric and tatters just make them more intriguing to me. I have several in my home that I have collected through the years. I even have a quilt on my dining room wall that I bought new. It is still pretty to me, even though it is not old.
I remember when I first moved to the Pacific Northwest. The dark rainy days that settled in for the winter just about drove me crazy. I was having a visit with an older friend who was also a transplant from the south. Over twenty years have passed, but I can still hear her sweet voice as we visited… “You gotta get yourself a hobby darlin’, that is how you cope with the weather around here.” At the time I had three young children and life at home was busting at the seams. I took a quilting class then, but found the exactness of the art a difficult thing with the constant interruptions.
Recently we had a new quilt shop open in town. I would often stop in and admire the quilts, and a surprising longing came back to try and learn to quilt again. A few weeks ago I enrolled in a beginning quilting class. Once a week, I walk through the winter rain with a basket holding my supplies to the little shop full of fabric and sewing machines humming. I greet other women as we gather our fabric and squares, and begin to piece the shapes together and sew. From whole pieces of cloth, patterns are emerging, each as different, unique, and beautiful as the woman who is sewing it. This time I am enjoying the exactness of the art. In a world that is unorganized and messy, getting my corners to line up delights me!
I am learning when a woman creates a quilt, she sews in her thoughts, her hopes, and prayers at that season of her life. As she creates the quilt, she is also thinking of her life, and working through the challenges and uncertainties, trusting that there is a bigger picture, and beauty will emerge. Perhaps intuitively I have sensed that all along, and why these old quilts have spoken so eloquently to me.
Do you have an old quilt at your house? Do you know the story behind it?
Linking with Time Travel Thursday and Vintage Thingie Thursday 