I threw the handmade quilt away, yes I did.
Hello, dumpster! Take my quilt! Please...
And no I forgot to take a picture. (My only regret here.) The quilt was a Brick Wall design, a charm quilt, hundreds of different tiny calicos and chintzes that years ago came to my design office on swatch cards.We didn't actually use calico, but the swatch cards arrived anyway. Too pretty to just discard. My assistant and I would cut the tiny rectangles before we tossed them out.
It looked somewhat like these c.1876-1900 Connecticut quilts archived on The Quilt Index :
I made the quilt when I got married. I proudly quilted a feathered heart in one corner...you know, with our initials and wedding date.
This one, below, is the closest:
But my quilt was more random, kinda like real life. It had lovely feather quilted borders made of black cotton with tiny pink rosebuds; the backing was the same print with a khaki ground. The binding was the same calico in miniature. Maybe--Marcus Brothers?
I displayed the quilt with pride on our black iron and brass bed we bought in Perkiomenville PA on warm October day so many, many years ago.
We had headed to the big flea markets in Lancaster County, our mission to find an antique bed. We found none that morning but a dealer told us he'd seen a brass bed while picking [antiques, not apples] at an apple farm a few miles east. We followed his directions, winding through the beautiful back country roads. And there was the farm, probably had sat there a hundred years or more.
The woman's house smelled of apple wood burning in an old potbellied stove and fresh baked apple pie. The sun shone through the red maple leaves, the air like still golden honey...it was magical.
That bed was in our loft in the city; we bought the loft the day after we got married, instead of a honeymoon. Years later we realized that, at best, we are better friends than spouses....And no one at all except me valued that quilt or those memories.
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| Michigan 1900 |
Now the quilt made me very sad.
And it had polyester batting that bearded, darn it! (yes, yes, the truth, the real reason to toss it comes out! I couldn't face unquilting it, and redoing it with good cotton batting...because, after all: who cared?)
Not me.
On a much nicer note, this is a quilt I made for my daughter a few years ago. I photoshopped her name out, sorry for the blurs.
I like hearts, so I hoped she'd like one too. And of course because I love her. I designed the simple pattern. And had it quilted with more hearts. And this time I used cotton batting, thank goodness....
It folds up into a pocket in the back, for sleep-overs or travel...
The pocket is a rather wonderful mini quilt. Again, name removed.
And it has secret "mom" messages, an angel, a rainbow, a smiling sun...and it too was made with love and high hopes.
love
lizzy
gone to the beach
above...July
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Awww, you're killin me here. Thank you for sharing that, though it made me feel a little melancholy. How do you feel now that it's gone? I hope---lighter? Anywho, the quilt you made for your daughter is darling, I bet she loves it. It'll be a lovely heirloom....someday. (I still can't believe you threw away a quilt.) ---Kelley
ReplyDeleteYou may find this hard to believe - as hard as I pushed you NOT to throw away a quilt once before - but I'm kind of glad you tossed this one. If it holds bad memories, why keep it? Quilts are supposed to be happy. And your daughter might not appreciate the quilt you made her but even if she doesn't, she'll know it meant you love her. Who knows, one of HER children might think it's the coolest thing EVER! Life is strange that way....
ReplyDeleteI threw away a lot of things...
ReplyDelete