Quilting-A Lost Art?

Is quilting a lost art?

My mama made her first quilt when she was 8 years old.  I have it now.  I suppose it was made from some of their dresses which were then made from flour sacks.  Mama said they would go to town and pick out the flour sack they liked because they knew they would eventually wear it:)

Does anyone know what this is called?

It was my mama's desire to quilt each of her six grandchildren one for their graduation from high school.  This is my daughter's quilt.  It was made from scraps of mama's dresses.  I can remember each one.  I think she called this one a "Pinwheel."

She completed all, but one.  She started the last grandchild's quilt, pieced it together, but never got around to putting the batten or backing on it.

This is my favorite one, "The Flower Garden," because it is made of fabric from four generations-my granny's "frocks", my mama's dresses, my scooter skirts (remember those?) and my baby girl's and nieces's sundresses.

Last year when the estate was settled, we drew straws and divided everything equally.  The quilts and mama's paintings were the most valuable-the value that can't be bargained for, bought or sold.

This one was on my Daddy's bed the day that he died.  It still smells like him.



I've read stories of how the ladies in times past got together to quilt.  It was their entertainment, their time of sharing joys and sorrows.  From what I hear, the kids would sit under the frame and listen to the stories.  It's where they learned the lessons of life and even about the "birds and the bees."

Mama had a big wooden quilting frame that she bought from someone.  She mounted it to the ceiling in my bedroom after I left home and that was her way of forgetting about the troubles in life. Maybe quilting helped her to adjust to having her second child leave home.  Something happens when your children grow up and go.  You begin to think about your own mortality and how you might leave some kind of legacy.

My mama left us a legacy of love-not just in the quilts she pieced together by hand, but in all she did.  I never learned to sew or quilt, but I hope I'll leave the same legacy of love and service to my children and grandchildren.  My mama taught my niece to quilt.  Maybe the art wasn't lost completely.

I'd like to know how many of you, my friendly bloggers, know how to quilt?  I'd like to hear your stories.

  By the way, the above quilt is one I found at an estate sale.  It is in pristine condition.  Buy it from my Etsy shop.  Vintagegirl901.