Quilted
Article Written by Trudy Samsill
I received a very special package in the mail today! My grandmother mailed me a quilt that she hand-stitched for me. I have several of these in my home, 2 hanging from the 2nd story loft stair-rail and 2 in my daughter’s room. One was mine from when I was a little girl that my grandmother made for me with ladies in colorful dresses with beautiful, large skirts and matching umbrellas. There is one on each of my children’s beds. I have one hanging on the wall in my TV room behind the couch and about 10 more in the closet that I switch out from time to time.
My mom made one depicting bears, moose, and squirrels that is just perfect in our cabin! I even have a quilt given to me for a birthday by one of my best friends that tells a story of who I am, complete with squares that have funky shoes, a school motif, “Roll Tide” and BAMA, coffee cups, birds, and the back is in Texas wildflowers! So many of these quilts are my favorites.
Today I received a new “favorite.” This one is special for many reasons. My grandmother quilted it adding the batting and back to a quilt that her mother, my great grand-mother, pieced years ago. It just happens to be birds; the state bird for each of the 50 states hand-embroidered on blocks of white. It is so beautiful and so special to me! What an honor to have something that two very special women created! My great grand-mother quit quilting in the late 60’s after she fell and broke her hip so the top is at least 40 years old and has been wonderfully preserved by my grandmother, then today, passed on to me.
This quilt is much like life. What my great-grandmother created years ago was preserved by my grandmother who added her own touch to it, then it has been handed over to me to USE and ENJOY. I know that my great-grandmother was a Christian, and I know that she loved God and served others throughout her long life of 103 years. Her daughter, my grandmother, has continued on in this way of life because as a little girl, her mother stitched into the very fabric of her life a love for God and others. And my grandmother carried on this stitching, piecing, and quilting, if you will, of the love of God and others into my own mother’s young life that, I must say, has been “quilted” into my life. Now, its my turn to do the same with my children, to pass on this love of God and others, to stitch into their hearts and quilt into their lives pieces that carry on what I have learned. What has been quilted into my life is very priceless to me, so much so that I want to quilt it into the lives of future generations. What are you quilting into others?
Psalm 45:17 “I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore, the people shall praise You forever and ever.”
[tooltip text=”TOOLTIP TEXT”]Trudy Samsill is a wife to her best friend of 26 years and mother to 4 amazing children. She and her family reside in Paradise, Texas. Home-schooling, nature, writing, and spending time with her family and friends make her one happy chic![/tooltip]
