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Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The Healing Quilt...

When I was a little girl - if any of us kids were frightened or ill there was a place of safety - same as any other kids' place of safety probably... Mom and Dad's bed...  Of course, my parents had a pretty good system... if we came in their room we'd get a quilt on the floor near their bed.

This Quilt?
You know, I'm not 100% sure that this is THE only quilt that I snuggled up in on those floor-sleeping nights, but this is the quilt I remember best.  I remember being sick and wrapped up in this quilt on the couch - I remember drinking hot jell-o water for an upset stomach and accidentally spilling a little on the quilt - I remember one night huddled in the quilt holding a cold soda against my burning up foot when infection was winning the battle...

but most of all I remember fingering the many many fabrics of the double wedding ring design - crafted by my great grandmother when my own mother was married - and my mom telling me stories of where the fabrics came from... if I can recall I think there were pieces of many fabrics that had also been used for great aunt's dresses and great uncle's suits...  a great distraction from worry and nausea - Mom loves to tell stories about her family - and they never stopped at the fabrics!

Speaking of fabrics... our quilt is still around - but not exactly in great shape... The photo shows that it's a little faded, but you can't really see that there's more stuffing poking out than being held in by the quilting...  so I'll be sending some alternate fabric...  something given to me by my grandmother...  because I'm being groomed for the "She Who Dies With The Most Fabric Wins" club...  it's a family tradition!

To learn about the "sisterhood of the traveling quilt" check this out - 

To Join the S.W.D.W.T.M.F.W. club...  just drop by sometime... ManOfTheHouse would LOVE for me to donate some to you :)

9 comments:

April said...

It's BEAUTIFUL! And even more so because of the memories!

When I was 18 yrs old I would have won S.W.D.W.T.M.F.W. contest. I had just finished working 4 years at a fabric store. I moved away and left it all to my mom.

Kristina P. said...

My MIL is an excellent quilter. She didn't make us one when we got married, but she finally finished my husband's that she started for him in high school! And he sleeps with it every night.

Barbaloot said...

I have some great quilts in my life...and I'm still trying to figure out what I want to send to the Magic Quilt that Crash and Kritta are doing.

Anonymous said...

Swinging in from SITS! That's a great quilt and it has such wonderful memories. :)

Megz said...

The first thought when I saw the quilt was 'Well, at least you wouldn't be able to tell if jello water spilled on it', but then I read about the memories and instantly the quilt became a beautiful heirloom.
I think it's nice to keep up those traditions. I also like knowing people who have lots of fabric just in case I can think of any reason to 'borrow' some.

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Oh, T. That was so beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing.

LY T!

Anjeny said...

Beautiful post T. That's a very beautiful quilt and I love all the memories that come with it. Thank you sharing this heart warming memory with us.

springrose said...

Makes me want to go and grab my Gram's quilt and snuggle with it right now!! Thanks for the warm fuzzies!!

Tiffany said...

That's a nice quilt. Sounds like it was a comfort for a lot of years.