The Gift of a Lifetime

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Got home from work Tuesday evening to find a package from my sister in the mailbox.  It was my mother's quilt journal, in her possession ever since we sorted through and divided up mom's stash. I had pretty much forgotten about it but when I opened it up I immediately burst into tears. (Hey, it was election day and my husband was running for reelection. Major stress.)  Just the sight of her handwriting on those pages overwhelmed me - why is it such an intimate thing to see the handwriting of a lost loved one?  I started paging through, reading bits and pieces and laughing hysterically at all the sales receipts for fabric tucked in between the pages.  Mom was a fanatic about keeping track of money,  writing down what you spend, etc. Much to her frustration it NEVER caught on with any of her daughters.

I keep a sort of quilt journal (or so I thought) until I went back for a second, more thorough reading of Mom's journal. Mine just lists the quilt,  when I started it, why I made it, etc. Mom took quilt journalism to a new level - why was I surprised?  She talks about the fabric, the colors, where she goofed on some part or other, the brand name of the batting she used, notes about how well it did or did not needle, who the quilt was for, measurements, dates - in an astonishing level of detail. She added bits about a class she took here, a shop hop there, a book (title AND publisher) she was given for Christmas or a birthday, reviews of quilt shows and coveting the work of others.  I also learned she had a bunch of purple and blue ribbons on quilts she exhibited at fairs, and I wondered about where those ribbons  ended up. I also found a cheat sheet she used when giving a talk once to a guild. It just had bullet points about many things, but there was a section on how quilts are a wonderful gift for commemorating birthdays and anniversaries.  Then she had "45th anniversary quilt"  listed as her next talking point.  It was good I was sitting down, because my knees would have buckled.  That was the quilt made by her 3 daughters - my sister Pat pieced the top, she mailed it to me for hand quilting and I mailed it to Peg to do the binding.

I have written about the family quilt before,  but I was not prepared to see it come so full circle.  The quilt we made for their 45th anniversary was the same one we used to cover Mom's casket at her funeral, and brought it out again for Dad in April of this year.  The gift of a lifetime?  Apparently it has become the gift of many lifetimes.  Her quilt journal is so rich in family history and information - by adding the year or date or occasion, it is now possible to remember when and how old Dad  was when had his stent surgery (important to a brother who is worried about the same), who received which quilts, the date of their last visit to Gloucester, and the satisfaction of knowing how many of my cousins have a bit of her work in a wall hanging, place mats, or quilt.

I don't see myself as ever being as prolific in my quilting as my Mom, but I do know I need to document in much more detail what I have done.  I've already forgotten about quilts I have made for babies, to send off for this or that, and I think I need to be better about it all. I'm not sure who will know or care down the road, but  I know from her example it will have had impact on someone, somewhere.  Thanks Mom -  you've been gone 10 years next week and I still learn valuable lessons from you all the time.