Remember

As a punchline in one of the Hallmark Hall of Fame videos we bought years ago, one of the main characters had engraved on their headstone, “I never forgot.” The line referred to the life changing love that she had felt for the other main character. That line has stuck with me. It seems like forgetting is easier in today’s society. People who went through the Great Depression had frugality indelibly marked in their memory and personality, so much so that even when better times came most couldn’t splurge the way modern people splurge and today’s generation, separated by too many years, wonders why.

I often get blank brain spots and receive blank stares when conversing with people. When I comment that we don’t watch TV I get horrified looks and questions such as “How do you get your news?” And I feel that blank spot in my brain of “what news is that life shattering that a day or two would change anything?” and the other person gets a blank look on their face when I ask that question. Most ‘news’ today is what would have been labeled gossip 3 generations ago.

I’ve noticed that most people have also un-learned how to do without. “What do you do if you don’t have medical insurance/extra money/extra time/whatever?” people ask with a frantic look on their face.  I’m at a blank wall - what do you do? Well, you do without whatever. In times past people didn’t have nor use paper towels but somehow they figured out how to do without - yes, it was probably easier as they had never experienced a ‘better way’ but life still went on.  When I say, “Grab a rag from the rag bag” I get that blank look and question “What in the world is a rag bag???”

But enough of that soap box for now. The above is a prelude to explain the name of this quilt - “Remember.” It’s done in 1930 reproduction fabric and as I pieced it and as I will quilt it, I am tied back to the old times when this quilt would have been made from true scrap fabric - leftover pieces from clothing made from feed sacks or tiny pieces from clothing that had worn out yet had a few small good areas. I don’t ever want to forget how people ‘made do or did without.’

The quilt is just laying over the side of the frame here so I could get a picture of it. It was a bugger to put on the frame and I’ll put pictures of that as I progress with the hand quilting. It’s 102″x102″ - king sized.

Below are two close ups of the quilt. They’re fuzzy because I am camera challenged.

I hope everyone has more than a few things from life “they never forgot.” There’s something comforting in knowing we are healthily tied to our heritage.

This entry was posted on November 14, 2009 at 08:49 am and is filed under Homestead living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.