Pages

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Her Great-Great-Great-Grandmother's Quilt

Many, many years ago, long before Moriah was born, a woman named Della pieced a quilt.  Painstakingly cutting fabric to the right size and shapes, arranging the colorful pieces in a pleasing-to-the-eye order, bending over the material to sew the pieces together, she worked, having no idea that someday, a bundle of sweetness named Moriah--her great-great-great-granddaughter--would be laid on that very quilt and have her picture taken.
I discovered anew this quilt in my linen closet a few months ago when I was preparing our guest room for the arrival of Jeff's mom.  Because the comforter that had been on that bed was dirty, I searched for something different to cover the bed; and when I pulled this old quilt out of the closet, I found a note with it.
It says (in the handwriting of my paternal grandmother Olive, with a few additions in my mother's handwriting):
This double wedding ring quilt top was pieced by my grandmother Della Fike back prior to 1941--I had it put together and quilted I think by the women of Maple Spring Church of the Brethren. Eglon, West Va.  Grandma pieced one for each of us that wanted one.  I am giving it to Barbara [my mother] because she has done so much for us.
Jan. 9, 1990
Olive F. Huffman
Six generations.
An old lady and a new baby who will never know each other in this life.
Connected by one quilt.
Each stitch Della patiently made stitched together not just a variety of patterned fabrics.
It stitched together time...and space...and hearts...and a sense of family identity.  Of belonging.  In Moriah, there is a little piece of Della.
As I was taking these pictures of Moriah this morning, Shav was watching; and when I finished, he desperately wanted to be allowed to take some pictures of her, too.  "OK," I said as I handed the camera over to him, "I'll sit here with Moriah, and you can take some pictures of both of us!"  Thinking about how significant it would be to have a picture with both Della's great-great-granddaughter and great-great-great-granddaughter on this special quilt, I eagerly checked the pictures when he was done.  Believe it or not, this was the best one.  :)
I think it would make Della smile.  ;-)

6 comments:

  1. That is an absolutely gorgeous quilt!! What a treasure to have, and in such wonderful condition.
    Ah, it makes my fingers itch to quilt... something I have never, ever done but recently have been wanting to do.

    Moriah is mighty cute herself. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a precious treasure! I love the last picture -it made me smile!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a wonderful quilt! I love that you used it as a backdrop!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ha ha! Kids are so predictable. ;) And need tripods.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Katie - Jeff asked me the other day what I want for Christmas. Maybe I should tell him "a tripod." ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Haha! Love the last picture. :)

    Roger has a special quilt that his Grandmother made... it was pieced together by one Grandmother and quilted (many years later) by the other. It's not as pretty to look at as yours, but I love that both of his Grandmothers made it.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you...
~ for taking a moment to spill your thoughts,
and, in so doing,
~ for being a blessing to those of us who read these words!