Category: What’s Your Story

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What’s Your Story? – Grandma’s Hands by Michele T.

BLOCK Magazine is always looking to publish original stories from quilters like you. We believe that everyone has an important story to tell and that sharing our stories brings us closer together. Today’s story is just that – a story of connection in quilting.

“The first quilter I ever knew was my maternal grandmother, Catherine.  She died in 1966 when I was only 12 years old, and I miss her still.

By the time I was born, she had four grandsons but no granddaughters, so when I came along, Grandma embraced me as her very own special blessing.  She was my safe haven in a life that was often tumultuous and unpredictable. When I was with her, I felt wrapped in a blanket of unconditional love that was as comforting and warm as the patchwork quilts she made. 

As I look back on the influences in my life and ponder the beginnings of my own interest in craft and design, I remember snuggling under the quilts my grandmother made and being mesmerized by the multi-colored patchwork. I began to formulate my own understanding and love of colors, shapes, and patterns as I scrutinized the blocks.

Grandma didn’t watch me grow up and learn to quilt but I feel connected to her as I sew, and I savor memories of our time together. As I age, I’ve noticed that my hands have begun to look like hers. They are not the hands of a model in a dish-soap commercial.  They’re work-hardened, with short fingers, knobby knuckles, and ridged nails that refuse to grow without splitting or cracking.  As a result, I’ve never liked them much.  But as I spend many joyous and peaceful hours creating beautiful quilts for the people I love, I am learning to look at them in a new light. I can appreciate my hands, Grandma’s hands, not only for the memories they recall, but especially, for the beautiful and loving memories they may help to create.”

-Michele T.

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What’s Your Story? – My Sister’s Unfinished Quilt by Barb R.

BLOCK Magazine is always looking to publish original stories from quilters like you. We believe that everyone has an important story to tell and that sharing our stories brings us closer together. Quilting isn’t just a hobby for some. For many it’s a way to cope, stay inspired, or even honor others.

Thank you, Barb, for sharing your story.

“Prior to my sister, Susan’s, untimely death from ovarian cancer at age 49, we had the opportunity to go through some of her “stuff.” There were a lot of boxes to go through and at the bottom of one of her boxes, I found several unfinished projects including multiple finished Christmas tree blocks and already cut fabric ready to piece into more blocks for a quilt. 

At the time, I had never quilted but I had an older sister who was an devoted quilter and I asked Pat if she would like the squares from Susan. She agreed to take them and although there weren’t enough squares or fabric to make a quilt, there were blocks that could be used for some other form of remembrance. 

The first Christmas tree square Pat used was on the back of a quilt that she made for me as a way of thanking me for helping Susan. Pat came up with the idea of using the squares to make pillows for the four living sisters. Unfortunately, every time Pat opened the squares to work on them she became emotional and tearful and couldn’t really start. Now I’m new to quilting but I’m up to the challenge of making pillows for my 3 remaining sisters.

Susan died before she ever became a grandmother, but loved babies and knew at some point her two girls would have children of their own. Because she knew she was going to pass before seeing her grandchildren, she wanted them to have something special from her. Crocheting was easy for her to do when she was ill and something she could do without having to sit at a sewing machine. In the year before she died she crocheted six baby Afghans all in different colors. I was the keeper of those gifts until such time she had grandchildren. Twenty years have passed and she has six grandchildren. Each baby was taken home from the hospital wrapped in one of the afghans made by their grandma. It is comforting to know all of her grandchildren have a piece of Susan’s work.

Susan was a remarkable woman and we both learned to sew early. We were only 13 months apart in age. Our first project when we were about eight was a green and white skirt that we made with our maternal grandmother. She made Alaskan parkas for my kids, she made Mukluks, and there wasn’t much she couldn’t do when it came to sewing.

Sometimes our projects get ahead of us and sometimes a little mistake in one project makes it difficult to continue and so it goes to the bottom of the box. Now as I take these squares and make pillows for my sisters I will finish the “unfinished” quilt in a different form. My sisters will have a remembrance of Susan knowing she is wrapping us all in her love with a piece of her quilt.”

Barb R.

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What’s Your Story? – Wounded Warrior by Marie D.

BLOCK Magazine is always looking to publish original stories from quilters like you. We believe that everyone has an important story to tell and that sharing our stories brings us closer together.

Today’s, What’s Your Story?, will touch your heart (you may want to grab a tissue!). It’s one of love, fate, and hope that all stem from a single quilt.

Thank you Marie D. for sharing your beautiful story…

About seven years ago, I was involved in a quilt guild that was making quilts to send to Wounded Warrior. The quilts were given to men and women who had served in the armed forces and returned wounded. Like all of the other ladies in the group, I made a quilt to send which was a scrappy stars and stripes pattern. The quilts could not be labeled and all donations were anonymous. As I finished the last stitch in the binding, I hugged it tight and said a little prayer for the recipient and packaged it for shipment and didn’t think another thing of it. 

Five years later, I’m scrolling through Facebook and I get a message from a boy I had dated in high school. We were high school sweethearts, but our lives took different paths. Mine took me to college and a career and I never knew where he ended up until I received that message. We began chatting frequently, talking about everything from spouses to children to everyday life. I found out that he had enlisted in the Army shortly after I left for college and was with the 101st Airborne. During his career, he had been to Afghanistan and came home wounded. 

One day while we were chatting he asked me if I fixed quilts since he had seen my posted photos. He said he had a quilt that he needed to be repaired due to wear and tear. He said he had received it while in the hospital and it was very important to him to get it fixed. I responded that normally I don’t do repairs, but for him, I would make an exception. We then made arrangements to meet so I could see what I had gotten myself into. 

On the day we were to meet, it seemed that nothing could go right. Traffic, car problems, and the weather had me praying to just make it to my destination safely. When I did finally make it, I was exhausted and cranky and honestly wanting to pick up the quilt and go. Of course, I couldn’t simply do that, so I met with my friend and his lovely wife and we chatted for a long while waiting on the weather to clear.

When it came time to depart, I remembered the reason for the trip and asked to see the quilt. I was thinking in the back of my mind that this could be next to impossible. When he brought the quilt in and showed me the damage, you could have knocked me over with a feather. He brought in the very quilt I had donated to Wounded Warrior. The tears immediately began to flow. What are the odds that someone I knew would end up with that quilt, especially when he needed it most? Once I composed myself enough to speak, I explained why I was so emotional. Then it was his turn to be speechless. He then explained how he had always felt comforted whenever he covered up with the quilt and how he was still using it to cope with severe PTSD.

After that, I was so happy to repair that quilt. To this day, he still uses it whenever he has a bad day and it still does the trick. So now whenever I make a quilt to send to our servicemen and women, I always hug it tight and say a little prayer for whoever receives it so that they may also know the comfort of a quilt made with love.

– Marie D.

As we listen, learn, and grow, greater inspiration enters our lives and our capacity to care expands. No matter how simple you believe your story to be, it’s worth sharing. Share your story >