Actually, proud is not a word that I would associate with Granny. She was an opinionated, no-nonsense kind of woman. However, I couldn’t help but think of her as I was at my first quilting class on Monday night. As so many women of her generation, Granny made many quilts to keep her family warm. It was a skill passed on from woman to woman, generation to generation. The women of the church would gather at someone’s house to do the actual quilting. Usually, as I understand it, it was only the piecing that one was responsible for on her own. A woman could always depend on her friends and neighbors to help her finish the project. Sometimes I wish time had not changed and we had not become so private and self-sufficient. One thing I realize as I read and learn about times past is that people depended upon each other. Whether in making a quilt or living a life, they all needed help from time to time, and so do we.
About the photo above: I was blessed when a lady at my church who is very skilled at quilting and has studied its history and its form as an art invited me to join a class she is teaching in her home. Monday night we learned a little bit about the history of quilting and got started. I finished three squares for my string quilt, as she called it. Sure, the fabrics are a little wild and mismatched, but I understand that this is the way quilts are made. I can’t wait for another class, to hear the soothing whir of the sewing machines (no, we are not hand-stitching our squares) and the comfort of our gentle conversation.
Thank you, Lord, for this blessing.
