Old quilts

I was on Quilt.com reading people's preferences for baby quilts, and the following comments touched me:

From: Colleen

My favorite "baby" quilt was made by by Grandma and I have had it ever since I can remeber. It is made out of scrap squares of heavy late 60's, early 70's polyester fabric (blue with white ploka dots, red, blue/white mix, blue with stripes, and yellow with very ugly red and blu geometric flowers). She knotted it on the corners and quilted it diagonally. the top and bottom of the quilt is dso thick and heavy it needed no batting. It may be ugly but I could not sleepo one night with out the security of that heavy quilt. When I graduated from high school she gave me another similarly made quilt, though out of pastel plaids (like mens shirts are made from). Now I have one to sleep under at my parents home and one at mine. It is amaxing how attached you can get to something out of your childhood.

Another interestin thing about my grandmother was the source of her materials. My Grandfather was the manager of a small department store so brought home tons of fabric swatches. Usually the fabric was not top of the line and thin, but you could get about a fat quarter in one pattern in many colors. My Grandma's quilts were never very artistic. She would sew together odd pieces or squares of old blankets and sheets to make every day coverings for bed. She whould also use what ever old threadbare sheet or blanket that was handy for the inside 'bating'. When we were cleaning out her house in April (she has Altzheimers and lives in a nursing home) I liked looking at these odd quilts. One I like was a reall mish mash and even used old ties. As I was examining it closer I noticed a hole and saw the name of some ancester embroidered. My practical Grandma had used an old family quilt (from before she was born) inside on of her every day quilts. The family was amazed and my mother saisd she had remembered seeing it as a child. Unfortunatley one of my older aunts grabbed it when no one was looking so I do not know if I will ever get to see the whole quilt.

From: Curt

Your story of your grandmother's quilt brought to mind the ones my grandmother made. She also used whatever she had at hand for the fillers. We had quilts made with men's wool work socks. When the socks wore out, she cut them to lie flat and sewed them together into a "bat". The quilts were quite warm but incredibly heavy to sleep under. The tops were scap quilts from leftovers or parts of old clothes. They weren't fancy but she did have a good sense of design.

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Stories like those are part of what makes me love quilting. First, I'm fascinated by the resourcefulness that can find a way to give new life to old clothes (even socks!), and then create an art form
out of scraps. In books about quilt history, people always say they remember sleeping under their grandmother's or mother's simple quilts as children. The fact that a little bit of each family member goes into every one in the form of worn-out clothing makes these humble works even more special.