My Renewed Interest in Quilts

Glorious quilts!

My son and I attended a presentation today about quilting. It was held at our town's museum. We learned about their history and designed our own block. I've made a few quilts in my life but not recently. My daughter-in-law has been very interested lately in learning to quilt. So if we're out shopping together we tend to look at old and new quilts for sale. Well, I think the bug has bitten me again. This fall will be quilt making time! I haven't decided what I want to make yet. However, I'm starting now to look for inspiration and will slowly gather my materials. The exciting part is, I don't care how long it takes! I can truly have joy in the journey and let it take shape over time. Quilting is an art and sometimes art can't be rushed. Didn't it take Michelangelo over four years to paint the Sistine Chapel? Some quilts are created with cotton tops but others feature velvet, silk or other specialty fabrics. The design options are endless and limited only by your imagination. They're of course beautiful and warm on a bed but could also be hung on a wall, draped on a banister, or used as a curtain. When I was a little girl, my grandparents had a huge screened-in sleeping porch attached to the back of their house. Three vintage wrought iron beds were lined up and enveloped in quilts and feather pillows covered in ticking. My cousins and I could sleep out there on a cool night and never feel the least bit of a draft. I would wake up to the smell of bacon cooking in the morning but be so cozy and warm that I didn't want to get out of bed. However, the allure of my Grandmother's homemade, country breakfast would be too much. We would make a run for the door, bare feet on the wooden porch floor. Wow, it was freezing but moments later we were inside where it was toasty from the oven that held the rising biscuits. In front of the crackling fireplace there were more quilts on the sofa to snuggle in while we waited on the feast. To my Grandmother's generation (she turns 100 this year) quilts were a very necessary and special part of life. They provided a way to recycle old clothing, warmth, comfort, and art. My Grandma has made hundreds of quilts in her lifetime and she can remember and describe just about every one of them! Quilts are worth having and certainly worth putting the effort into making. I'll keep you posted on my progress, even if it's slow. What about you? Do you have a favorite memory of a quilt? pictures: georgiabonesteel.com, thelongthread.com, coax.net