Bruce sent me this picture and description of his mother’s quilt. I love that just like women of old, she was using the scraps she had to make quilts that have been keeping her family warm for decades now. Thanks so much for sharing Bruce!

This is not my favorite quilt, but it has a place. Growing up in a drafty farm house that sat on a hill overlooking Seneca Lake in western NY, staying warm during the brutal winters was a priority. Mom had a 1950s vintage Singer Featherweight sewing machine and many evenings were spent sewing these quilts that eventually graced not only every bed in our home, but numerous others in the community. Some were even hand embroidered with names and dates to be given as wedding gifts! They were made from the cheapest and most readily available material there was in the late 60s and early 70s – polyester.

Mom was no stranger to the Salvation Army store and was constantly on the lookout for the escapees of the polyester power hour. Sewn into 4 x 4” blocks and stuffed with a piece of poly batting, they were sewn shut and adorned with a single yarn tie in the middle. They were then laid out in a pattern with alternating solids and prints, sewn into strips and then into a composite whole and bound on the edge.

The quilt pictured is one of many I know of to still be in use. It may not be easy on the eye and true quilters may run for the eye bleach, but they will last nearly forever and are one of the warmest things in which you will ever wrap yourself. I carried this quilt to hunting camp last year and covered my bunk with it, staying toasty warm on single digit nights. I took a picture of it there in hunting camp and sent it to mom, who is now in her 80s. She was not surprised I was still using it, nearly 50 years later. We reminisced about the family affair of making them and her teaching me to sew on that indestructible little Singer Featherweight (my daughter now has this machine and my quilter wife has one identical).

Mom was a farmer’s wife in the truest sense and did whatever she could to take care of her family and neighbors, even sewing quilts from old clothes to keep us warm on frigid winter nights.

Anybody else have a quilt and a story? Leave a comment, connect on Facebook or email me at: Beth@BethDurham.com