Quilt

I have always loved quilts- yet another thing to blame on 'Little house on the Prairie', the Foxfire books and the whole white-geese-with-blue-ribbons era of decorating. But I love them with all my aesthetic heart~

I have lots (comparatively) of quilts- the beautiful ones from Mothers house that never see the light of day because they have white backgrounds and I have doggs, a couple of wedding ring quilts, lots of crazy quilts made out of crazy colors of polyester fabrics (not very attractive, but incredibly warm. Nothing quite like polyester to hold in heat, stand up to doggs and constant washing)... some beautiful depression-era quilts salvaged from that house in Boone, lots of squares and faces that are not sewn together but are old and lovely. Last night the only quilt I won (for all of 5 dollars) is NOT the one in the picture... (almost did, but I set a 10 dollar limit on myself) but the one I won was handmade, with a feed-sack backing. The front is long rectangular strips in blue/off white check and a reddish print. This was not a quilt for show. This is a quilt that is practical, sensible, heavy and durable- vaguely patriotic, definitely worth the 5 bucks. It will either land in boys room, the guest room, or on the couch.

Seriously, I think the real reason I love quilts is that they are made of bits of the past, and even if it is not my past, I can pretend, right? "Oh, this bright-pink and aqua textured polyester part came from Auntie Hildy's shorts she wore on her big Florida vacation. Remember? I can see her as plain as day- the big white plastic sunglasses, the sleeveless yellow check shirt with buttons and the toucan design, the shorts - thank God they reached her knees!- her little white footy socks with the pompoms on the back, the bright pink keds and white patent leather handbag that shown in the sun. Uncle Early wore his Budweiser hat, and that piece- see that orange and red print there? That was his attempt at 'tropical' attire! You would of thought he was going on safari! Funny thing is, that hat- you know, it was the can fronts connected with crochet- had these little holes between the stitches. You shoulda seen his sunburn! Lord, he looked like he walked all over Disney with a colander on his head!"