I love this piece and your family heirloom quilt! I come from a long line of southern women who made quilts and I cherish each one I own! Quick story to share; I was contacted by a women via ancestry.com whose 2nd great grandmother was a sister to mine. I have a quilt my great great grandmother made and shared a pic with her. She then shared a pic of one she had and they both contained some of the same fabric! Priceless look into the past. These sisters lived through the civil war and were of Scottish descent. My quilt has large hand appliquéd tulips on it. I took it to the Antique road show where they valued it around $450 priceless to me.
Wow, Kimberly! Six degrees of separation is more like three, right? I've wondered about the monetary value of this one. A number of the pieces are deteriorated/-ing, so I'm sure that would matter. I've seen some online for as low as $150 and as high as $8K. I would at least love to get it in front of someone who could tell me more about the stitches and motifs. That said, I love it just as it is and without knowing more than I already do.
Thank you so very much for reading and sharing this amazing story here.
Try taking it to a local quilt shop….they can direct you to some people that can help ID some of the stitches and the provenance! I’m excited for you. I took mine to a quilt shop and they ID’d the civil war era pattern immediately. They also showed me in the seams where the original color was red and due to limited dyeing techniques back then that fabric is brown today. Very cool!
Thank you, Rona. I'm not sure what it is about those tiny eyeglasses that is so captivating. There are many more complex designs in the quilt. Perhaps it is their simple utility.
Thanks for this rich and thoughtful remembrance, Elizabeth. I have a quilt made from the floral ribbons from the funeral of my husband's uncle, a beloved physician who died early from ALS, and another made of the various rough wool patches of my banker grandfather's worn-out suits. May I recommend to you and your readers the 4-part Netflix mini-series Death by Lightning which tells the story of Garfield's assassination, but really brings to light his remarkable marriage and family. What an under-appreciated man he was! I'm sure his untimely death was as significant to those who loved him as Kennedy's was to my generation. In the words of Faulkner, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
Those sound like beautiful quilts, Nancy, and so meaningful.
I'd heard about Death by Lightning and assumed it would come up in the comments. Since I've not watched it, it didn't feel right to mention it myself, but I've heard very good reports about it. I've had this essay on my radar for quite a few years. I waited for a "significant anniversary" and decided 145 was good enough. :)
Thanks so much for reading and sharing your comment. "It's not even past." ‼️
Breathtaking, literally, when I scrolled down to see the whole quilt. I love the way the essay zooms into a piece of ribbon, and then out again to the bigger picture. Well-stitched, Elizabeth!
I pondered your follow-up question in a strange direction: What do I WANT to be preserved that would tell a stranger something about me? Still working on that one.
Aside from my writing (too much for any stranger to want to wade through), the only item with my name on it is the hammered dulcimer I built from a kit. The stranger would rightly imagine I am an avid music lover. What the stranger would get wrong? Assuming some level of proficiency on this instrument, and a level of woodwork mastery, as I built it from a kit of pre-cut pieces. Not much craftsmanship. Lots of gluing.
Your piece turns me in the direction of wanting to play that instrument more, and to work together with Molly and Busy on our own crazy -- something we have thought about over the years. But using a sewing machine. I mean, who has time for all that stitching?? (More to the point, how did Elizza, working between the 'upper and lower millstones' of her own life?
Thank you, Stew. I am happy that writing this piece also prompted me to capture the quilt's beauty as best I could, archival work of a sort.
I might have seen your hammered dulcimer somewhere along the way--sounds beautiful!--and I'm certain we had a kit of our own once that never made it out of the box before we found a new home for it. So, good for you!
Loved the shift in how you thought about the one question. I think that's a question we should all consider, and maybe it would affect how we direct ourselves as we move along in life. "What of me do I want the world to have when I'm gone?"
Oh my gosh, that is a work of art. It’s gorgeous. I can’t believe those meticulous stitches. This would have been a difficult time for this woman (me) with much less talent!
Oof, I can relate to the "less talent." I know how to reattach a button or hand stitch a hem, but that's about the extent of my sewing skills. I have a lot of respect for those who have that ability. So useful, and clearly also beautiful. Thanks, Teresa.
Beautiful quilt, beautiful story. My paternal grandmother was an extraordinarily gifted seamstress—per family legend, she found a needle and thread on the floor and used fabric scraps (her parents owned a fabric shop) to make a dress for her doll when she was three years old. She tried to teach me to sew many times, with no success, but as I was writing about her in my memoir, it occurred to me that although I could never reproduce her even, tight stitches, I knew how to spin a yarn.
There's something so powerful about the way these stories—and these treasured objects—get passed on.
Those tiny spectacles clinched it for me; that is one special quilt! What an honor for you to have inherited it. I love how you can write about anything and make it both engaging and universal, Elizabeth. Keep up the great work!
I love this piece and your family heirloom quilt! I come from a long line of southern women who made quilts and I cherish each one I own! Quick story to share; I was contacted by a women via ancestry.com whose 2nd great grandmother was a sister to mine. I have a quilt my great great grandmother made and shared a pic with her. She then shared a pic of one she had and they both contained some of the same fabric! Priceless look into the past. These sisters lived through the civil war and were of Scottish descent. My quilt has large hand appliquéd tulips on it. I took it to the Antique road show where they valued it around $450 priceless to me.
Wow, Kimberly! Six degrees of separation is more like three, right? I've wondered about the monetary value of this one. A number of the pieces are deteriorated/-ing, so I'm sure that would matter. I've seen some online for as low as $150 and as high as $8K. I would at least love to get it in front of someone who could tell me more about the stitches and motifs. That said, I love it just as it is and without knowing more than I already do.
Thank you so very much for reading and sharing this amazing story here.
Try taking it to a local quilt shop….they can direct you to some people that can help ID some of the stitches and the provenance! I’m excited for you. I took mine to a quilt shop and they ID’d the civil war era pattern immediately. They also showed me in the seams where the original color was red and due to limited dyeing techniques back then that fabric is brown today. Very cool!
Wow! Elizza, who could not read or write, was a resourceful and imaginative artist. This quilt is a treasure. I particularly love the spectacles.
Thank you, Rona. I'm not sure what it is about those tiny eyeglasses that is so captivating. There are many more complex designs in the quilt. Perhaps it is their simple utility.
Thanks for this rich and thoughtful remembrance, Elizabeth. I have a quilt made from the floral ribbons from the funeral of my husband's uncle, a beloved physician who died early from ALS, and another made of the various rough wool patches of my banker grandfather's worn-out suits. May I recommend to you and your readers the 4-part Netflix mini-series Death by Lightning which tells the story of Garfield's assassination, but really brings to light his remarkable marriage and family. What an under-appreciated man he was! I'm sure his untimely death was as significant to those who loved him as Kennedy's was to my generation. In the words of Faulkner, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
Those sound like beautiful quilts, Nancy, and so meaningful.
I'd heard about Death by Lightning and assumed it would come up in the comments. Since I've not watched it, it didn't feel right to mention it myself, but I've heard very good reports about it. I've had this essay on my radar for quite a few years. I waited for a "significant anniversary" and decided 145 was good enough. :)
Thanks so much for reading and sharing your comment. "It's not even past." ‼️
Breathtaking, literally, when I scrolled down to see the whole quilt. I love the way the essay zooms into a piece of ribbon, and then out again to the bigger picture. Well-stitched, Elizabeth!
I pondered your follow-up question in a strange direction: What do I WANT to be preserved that would tell a stranger something about me? Still working on that one.
Aside from my writing (too much for any stranger to want to wade through), the only item with my name on it is the hammered dulcimer I built from a kit. The stranger would rightly imagine I am an avid music lover. What the stranger would get wrong? Assuming some level of proficiency on this instrument, and a level of woodwork mastery, as I built it from a kit of pre-cut pieces. Not much craftsmanship. Lots of gluing.
Your piece turns me in the direction of wanting to play that instrument more, and to work together with Molly and Busy on our own crazy -- something we have thought about over the years. But using a sewing machine. I mean, who has time for all that stitching?? (More to the point, how did Elizza, working between the 'upper and lower millstones' of her own life?
Thank you, Stew. I am happy that writing this piece also prompted me to capture the quilt's beauty as best I could, archival work of a sort.
I might have seen your hammered dulcimer somewhere along the way--sounds beautiful!--and I'm certain we had a kit of our own once that never made it out of the box before we found a new home for it. So, good for you!
Loved the shift in how you thought about the one question. I think that's a question we should all consider, and maybe it would affect how we direct ourselves as we move along in life. "What of me do I want the world to have when I'm gone?"
What a beautiful time capsule ! 🥰
Thank you, Melody. Some folks signed their crazy quilts. Can't help wishing my family had done that. Great to see you!
Oh my gosh, that is a work of art. It’s gorgeous. I can’t believe those meticulous stitches. This would have been a difficult time for this woman (me) with much less talent!
Oof, I can relate to the "less talent." I know how to reattach a button or hand stitch a hem, but that's about the extent of my sewing skills. I have a lot of respect for those who have that ability. So useful, and clearly also beautiful. Thanks, Teresa.
A bit of history, both personal and big picture. You are a gem, EB.
Her/our/his-story…
remembrances from remnants.
Crazy-quilt-making!
Beautiful quilt, beautiful story. My paternal grandmother was an extraordinarily gifted seamstress—per family legend, she found a needle and thread on the floor and used fabric scraps (her parents owned a fabric shop) to make a dress for her doll when she was three years old. She tried to teach me to sew many times, with no success, but as I was writing about her in my memoir, it occurred to me that although I could never reproduce her even, tight stitches, I knew how to spin a yarn.
There's something so powerful about the way these stories—and these treasured objects—get passed on.
Those tiny spectacles clinched it for me; that is one special quilt! What an honor for you to have inherited it. I love how you can write about anything and make it both engaging and universal, Elizabeth. Keep up the great work!