By Sherry who is frantically trying to break out of book jail
In each of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mysteries, something I own has ended up in the book. I’m finishing the fourth book A Good Day To Buy and in it one of my grandmother’s quilts shows up at an estate sale.
I’m lucky to have five quilts my grandmother made. My sister has another five. Each one was hand stitched long before I was around. I like to picture my grandmother, with friends stitching away, gossiping, and laughing — a reprieve from the long, hard days of being a farmer’s wife in rural Missouri. The picture below is my grandmother (on the right) as a young woman with one of her sisters, Armeda.
For a long time, my favorite quilt was the double wedding ring. It’s been on my bed, hung on the wall (don’t worry my mom made a sleeve for the back to hold the weight), or been folded at the bottom of the bed. And sometimes it’s been relegated to a shelf in the closet.
The detail and the border boggle my mind! All those tiny stitches, so carefully crafted, all those tiny pieces of fabric cut, and positioned.
Then I fell in love with the feed bag quilt. The fabric came from feed bags. If I’m right one side of the bag was burlap and the other cotton. I don’t know the name of the pattern of this quilt, maybe one of you can help me out.
I love all of the different colors and patterns. How artistically my grandmother put them together. Here’s a close up:
And then there’s the name quilt. Each block has someone’s name embroidered in the middle. I love to look at the names and wonder about the women who made them.
I recognize some. My grandmother’s name was Ursula but her nickname was Zula. I have no idea why.
Here’s a square by my Aunt Ginny (my dad’s sister):
And one by my great-aunt Alberta:
Then there’s the two women who used their married names:
And a couple from people I don’t know but their names (Chloe and Rowena) fascinate me:
I wish I’d asked more questions about them when I had the chance. But I treasure each one.
Readers: Do you have a family item that you treasure?
