Grandmother’s Quilt
She pieced this Double Wedding Ring quilt
for my aunt on her third wedding.
The quilt lasted longer than the marriage,
tossed in the back of the car for the dog to sleep
on,
and so it came to me, sun-bleached and worn,
with all the fabrics of the 1950s,
calicos, ginghams, the binding torn,
my grandmother and aunt long gone.
I put the queen-sized quilt away,
well-wrapped in a pillowcase
for a decade or two.
Now I sit mending that binding,
turn needle and wonder
where I will find those well worn fabrics
to patch each missing square.
In the morning, my grandmother’s work
greets me, her arthritic hands are now my hands,
and I make quilts for my daughter.
 |
| My Grandmother's Quilt c. 1955 (Camp 2013) |
Read what others have written for the A to Z Challenge and NaPoWriMo.
Beautiful, Beth. My mom had this same quilt pattern on her bed for many years. I'm not sure who made it for her. Lovely memories.
ReplyDeleteThis line struck me:
"In the morning, my grandmother’s work
greets me, her arthritic hands are now my hands,..." I am always taken when I see my parents' features in myself.
Thanks for a lovely poem. xoA
I love quilts! I am just learning the craft of quilting in the hopes of making quilts for my two boys.
ReplyDeleteYour imagery here is beautiful. I can see the quilt in the back of the car with the dog sleeping on it! Nice job!
Lovely poem and picture! I chose quilts as well for my Q today - but in a slightly different capacity! Enjoy your A to Z-ing!
ReplyDeleteJess/Blogging on the Brink
Such a wonderful poem. My great grand mother made me a crazy quilt when I was born. Quilts are such wonderful memories.
ReplyDeleteI love the line, "her arthritic hands are now my hands" Lovely.
ReplyDeleteI could never sew a straight line so quilting wasn't for me
Patiently working all the pieces into a whole is somewhat like writing, like most artistic endeavours, I think.
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
#atozchallenge
Oh Beth, this is lovely. It's almost identical to the one my grandmother made, except her corner blocks were blue and pink and her binding pink. Like your grandmother, mine used feed sack prints for the arcs. She gave it to me, and I used it. My four kids were much harder on it than her seven, so I unwittingly ran it through the washer and dryer. On the tenth such outing it fell to shreds. I cried for days, but got over it. After all these years, I'm slowly making a replica for my daughter
ReplyDeleteOh that's lovely! How wonderful to have a handmade item passed on through generations.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful story and poem and so pleased you are trying to restore this treasure. The prints in the quilt remind me a dresses I wore as a small child and those my mother wore, too. We even made a mock quilt from the offcuts - I say mock quilt for the diamond shapes were sewn using a sewing machine, not hand stitched.
ReplyDeleteAnn
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