Name: Tess
Home: St. Louis
Ben's Quilt
I am not a crafty person. I don't scrapbook; my photographs from the past 3 years sit in a box in the closet. When I had to knit for a play in college, the resulting scarf became mysteriously wider at one end. I never have the urge to refinish old furniture or stencil on the walls.
So I was especially moved when my mother-in-law made Ben a beautiful quilt. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's heavy and warm, and the colors are bright. There are thoughtful details: his name stitched into the quilting, the bird for the letter B done in Cardinals fabric.People tend to hang around with others who share their talents, but the quilt made me think that it's also nice to know people with completely different talents. I don't have a hope of ever making anything like it, but I'm glad Ben has a Nannie who can.
posted by Tess | 4:56 AM
3 Comments:
I did a quilt for each of my girls, one for the crib and one for the double bed. But it SURE wasn't anything that intense! The colors and ideas are gorgeous - the kite and "K" on a background of blue sky. Mine was more like piecing together squares, sewing them on the machine and hoping it all looked straight when I finished. I still get compliments, but I'm a hack and my figurative hat is off to women who express themselves more fully in artistic pursuits like these.
Ooh, speaking of that, I recommend The Virgin's Knot by Holly Payne as a book that explores the idea that women in closed societies (frontier America, the Amish, or in this case, in Turkey) used/use handicrafts to express themselves because they were/are not allowed authority over themselves, their children or their futures, access to political institutions, or means of self-expression for forbidden emotions. (Makes me wonder about the current inexplicable trend toward obsessive scrap-booking amongst stay-at-home-moms....)
You hit the nail right on the head. We are blessed when we associate with people of many talents, that way we can share them and they are new and unique and APPRECIATED.
It's so beautiful, Tess. My nannie quilts as well. It's truly a dying art. I keep telling myself that I need to sit down with her & let her teach me. But like you, I am hopelessly "un-crafty".
So far my nannie has made a quilt for everyone in the family. They are priceless and cherished beyond belief. Mine even won first place at the State Fair of Oklahoma. It is much like Ben's (personalized with each square uniquely different).
I know someday Ben will come to realize how wonderful his quilt is and that he will cherish it always.
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