Grandma's Quilt and Writing Assignment #19 - Grandparents

My hands were shaking making the scissors quiver. I was just about to take the first cut in the quilt that lay spread out on my Aunt's living room floor.  I was at one corner and my Aunt was at the corner on the far side, her silver scissors were opened, positioned and ready to cut as well.  But I looked up at her and said “I can’t!” to which she replied, “I can’t either!” and we dropped our scissors.

We had decided that we would cut the quilt into small squares and make pillows for all of the cousins coming to the Family Reunion.  The quilt was made with a riot of colored fabric in a crazy patch quilt style with chicken scratch stitches.  Sounds a bit out of control but it was quite elegant and had been a wedding gift given to our dear Grandma and had been made by her Mother and Grandmother as my Aunt remembered.  

It had a few tatters but was in otherwise quite good shape considering its age of 80 years at that time.

We had cut and sewn an heirloom tablecloth that had been in the family for well over 100 years before the previous reunion and had made little stuffed teddy bears and hearts for the family.

But as we sat there on our knees with scissors in hand this time…we couldn’t cut. 

My Aunt said, “I think that somebody doesn’t want us to cut up this quilt!”  

“I’m getting the same message!” I whispered.

So we ever so carefully folded it up and I said, “Now what?”  

“Well it’s supposed to stay in one piece for somebody and I think you should take it!”   

I humbly accepted her gift and carried it back home and carefully wrapped it in tissue paper and tucked it into a antique oak steamer trunk in my sewing room. I knew that the day would come when it was to be presented to its intended owner, so I waited and waited and over the years I forgot about it.

20 years later, my dear sister was visiting. She lived nearly 2,000 miles away and so the visits were infrequent but oh so cherished!  She was staying with Mother but on the last morning of her visit, I woke up suddenly, sat straight up and said right out loud, "The Quilt!  It's time and it's for her!"

"WHAT?  HUH? Oh OK, well...good", Dale stammered in his sleep and I laughed as I watched him roll back over and instantly start snoring again.  I couldn't wait though to get up and get it wrapped in the prettiest paper I could find!

My sister has had it hanging in her homes for the last 15 years.  It's perfect for her. She's a quilter and appreciates and loves every stitch and every piece of fabric and feels a unique connection to our dear quilting grandmothers when she looks at it!  They wanted it to be hers and at just that time, no sooner for some reason.

I have felt that way lately too.  Feeling like I am being given little gifts of opportunities now for this time in my life.  A time when I need them most. And although I thought I needed them long before now and some I didn't even know I needed at all...the right time is now.

It seems there is a plan!!!  

I guess the trick is keeping that in mind and if we're doing all that we can do then like the song says.. 
"Your world's not falling apart it's falling into place".   

Patiently waiting, working and believing and then those experiences and opportunities start fitting neatly into place into this crazy quilt that we call life.  It's all good.

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WRITING ASSIGNMENT 19 - GRANDPARENTS

Its time to write about your grandparents!  If you knew them, describe how they each looked from your point of view.  Not from photos but from your memory.

Write a page (or 2 or 3 or more) on each of these 4 people.  Give their full names, their parents names, their date and place of birth and when and where they were married.

Now share the stories about them that you know.  Things from their past and experiences that you shared together.

If you didn't know them, try to contact someone who did.  Piece together a biography for them with dates, photos, stories and any unique physical and/or personality traits, or life learning or altering experiences that made them who they were.

Knowing who they were helps us understand who we are!  

If they came to this country from another country try to find out why they came.  What they left behind etc.  

Have fun with this one.  It's a journey well worth your time!

Hint: ancestry.com is a great place to find info you may not already have!