Thelma

“Remember that time when you and your twin sister Elma got naked in the pantry and covered yourselves in lard and then dumped the flour sack over your heads?” Thelma cackled like a wild chicken right as there was a loud squeak from the screen door.  “We’re in here!”  They all hollered.   “Pull up a seat Eula May, we were just getting started.” 

Oh the stories an old quilt can tell.  I moved in with my grandparents when I was 12.  My grandma (Thelma) was no longer quilting then, but I have heard wonderful and outrageous stories and have created a lot of my own.   I would give anything to have been a fly on the wall back then.  My PaPa had put my Grandma’s quilting frames on a pulley system so it was easy to pull the quilt they were working on up to the ceiling and down to their chairs when they were ready to quilt again.   I only inherited one quilt from my Grandma and that was a large orange Lone Star.  I pull it out and look at it and imagine the stores the ladies shared as they were working on it. 

I named my Longarm, Thelma, after my Grandma.  I wonder what she would think if she could see it?  I bet after all the shininess wore off that she would prefer to go back to quilting by hand. Don’t get me wrong.  I absolutely LOVE what I do, but nothing beats the look and feel of a hand quilted quilt.   I asked my Mom where Grandma’s old quilting frames were and she told me they were donated to a museum out in Van Horn, TX.  What a shame I thought!  Collecting dust in an old museum when I would have loved to have tried them out here. 

How great would it be to just have the door open anytime during the day and a girlfriend or two pop over to help you “quilt” a quilt?  I sit here sighing and thinking “why can’t it be like the good old days?”  I guess it goes back to living “In the Moment”.  Don’t let life get too busy.  I have a quilting bucket list and this is on the list.  Set aside the time with my friends to “quilt” a quilt before my quilting bucket list actually becomes a “bucket” list……

I have been spending a lot of time with Thelma these past few weeks and I took out my orange Lone Star tonight and enjoyed my memories….If you have any old quilts you inherited, pull them out.  I bet they have a lot of stories to share with you.

Oh and PS – the story at the top is true.  Can you imagine?  Lard and Flour – what a mess!!!

Have a great weekend!

Richla