Waxing Sentimental on a Cold Late-Winter's Day

It starts with an idea. Needles and threads and fabrics are gathered. Scissors are employed. Help is enlisted. Much love is included. The result spans generations. I'm talking about heirloom sewing. I used to limit my thinking of heirloom sewing as being special garments, such as christening gowns, bridal gowns, conformation dresses, and the like. Garments such as these are worn once in a generation and carefully packed away, waiting for another wedding, another baby, another commitment to follow the teachings of God. The seamstresses who made the garments probably knew that their handiwork would be passed down and painstakingly made sure that every stitch was perfect.


Star quilt made by Gladys Clark and her mother,
Anna Drake, in 1975, Galion, Ohio

The thing is, usually when a person sets out to stitch a quilt, the thought is for immediate comfort. Whether or not the quilter is a perfectionist, the quilt is either used in the home or sent to its intended recipient. It gets washed, sometimes a lot. It gets faded. Eventually the quilt gets put away, maybe to be discovered by another generation, maybe not. I imagine that there are millions of treasure chests full of such quilts, quietly biding time with wool WWII army blankets and other has-been household linens (like embroidered pillow cases).

Gladys Clark had a different experience. Gladys already had quilts that were used for everyday when she had the idea to make a "pretty quilt to save for company". She enlisted the help of her mother, Anna Drake, who was an experienced quilter.


After 38 years of  mostly being stored in a chest, their quilt still looks like new. Gladys knew that the love that she and her mom put into that quilt needed to be kept alive, so she gifted it to her niece, with instructions to use the quilt, to enjoy it, to remember that her aunt and grandmother made it.

When Gladys saw her quilt again, it brought back many memories of making it. She says that she can tell by looking at each block which ones were quilted by her mother's fine hand and which ones were quilted by her own, less experienced hands.


Gladys writes: "Here is the quilt I sent to my niece in NY. My Mom made the blocks & she & I hand quilted it in 1975. Mom had not quilted in many years, but when I ask her to teach me, she was more than willing. But-----we didn't have quilting frames. My Mom would tackle anything, so she told Ray she would tell him how to make them. Off to Gledhill Lumber he went to get the materials. We made several quilts using those frames & I still have them."


By phone, Gladys reports that her niece was thrilled with the package, and immediately put the quilt on one of the beds in her restored Victorian home.  Stitched in Ohio by women who were originally from West Virginia and now gracing a bedroom in New York, Gladys' quilt has touched the hearts of three generations of women and is a true "time machine"...a true heirloom.


Marcheta *keeping sweet memories alive