Aunt Naomi sent in a veritable treasure trove of memories for you to read. Here’s the first:
My earliest memory is of playing underneath a quilt (which was in a quilt frame, being quilted) with my sister Lolly and brother Lloyd. The quilters put the quilt in a stand, which ended up looking like a very large table. The quilters sat around this “table” and it became a tent to us children. We loved playing under it. Sometimes we retrieved dropped needles or spools of thread and were gophers in general. I don’t remember how old I was at that time but let’s say perhaps around 4 or younger.
Lloyd Jr. says
How often did they quilt? Did they leave the quilting frame up, or put it up and take it down every time? Did the older girls quilt too? Did any of the boys?
Sorry, I have lots of questions today.
Naomi Vetter says
Some of the older girls may know the answer to this question…but I’m thinking that there were a lot of women there on quilting day and…is it possible to get it done in one day??? I don’t know for sure, but I think they did. Back then, they didn’t have anything but standard size beds or cots, so I doubt it took a bunch of them long to quilt the whole thing.
Christina Rowland says
I remember when Grandma would have a quilt up when we were little….I don’t recall being allowed to play underneath it, but all the aunts would come down and work on it with her. They would talk and sing…they even let me put in a few stitches….I wonder if someone came behind me and took them out….they were probably very bad.
Aunt Lolly says
It was usually in the winter time,when Mother would put in a quilt.It is something to do when you can’t do anything else. ha We had lots of fun under her quilts. It might take several weeks to do a quilt. Most of the time they would remain up until finished, that way she could work on it anytime she had a few minuets. I do not remember any of us girls actually setting there helping her. I didn’t learn to quilt until Sam and Steve went off to high school, and Aunt Edna taught me. Mother belonged to a quilting club called the Sunshine Club (I think that was the name) Ever so often all these neighbor hood ladies would come to our house and quilt. This one time they tacked a beautiful white sheet with blue and white tacking (like heavy yarn). They finished it that day, That quilt was used on our bed(Naomi and mine) upstairs. We were so proud of it. They then, started on another regular quilt. That they didn’t get finished. I guess Mother finished it. It takes a lot longer to quilt then it does to tack. After we all lift home Dady would help Mother quilt. He would thread the needles, help roll the blanket, and do the actual quilting. I couldn’t believe my dady was doing this, but I saw him! ha
Naomi Vetter says
I have the tuffed blue and white bedspread, that Lolly mentions, in my cedar chest. When I took it from Mom’s house, I washed it to put it on one of my beds. However, the fabric did not hold up after all that time, and threads separated in places. I then purchased a white sheet and had a lady I knew reinforce the spread so it would not receive further damage. I used it a while after that when the kids came home, but after I had small grandchildren, I put it away. I’ll use it again when they are older and are careful with other people’s items.
Mahlon says
I remember Mom always having a quilt in the frame in the winter time. If you came in the house and didn’t look like you had something to do you had to go into the dining room and put in a few stitches and the stitches had to be just like what she had done. I must have been about 12 or 13 at the time. Mom always made sure we had something to do and we couldn’t sit around and feel sorry for ourselves.
There was one exception to this quilting thing. One year instead of having a quilt in the frame all winter – we refinished ALL the furniture in the house. We took razor blades and peeling knives and scraped until it was down to the bare wood. Daddy varnished it all and it looked so pretty after it was done.
Those were the times we’d tell stories and sing. Sometimes we’d get Vernon to tell us coonhunting Labrador stories.
Julie Baker says
Yes Christina, they were very picky about their stiches!!! They would dog each other about them!!!haha Personally if it held the quilt together …it’s good enough! You cant see the stiches from a few feet away anyway!!! I guess real quilters have their standards!