Mariner Compass Quilt

[Mariner Compass Quilt from the 1800's]

These past two weeks, I’ve been introduced to the world of antique and vintage quilts! My cousin, Tanya, asked me to help her get a website going for her collecting love: old quilts. It is called Tanya’s Divine Design Quilts.

As I wrote content and posted quilt tops, applique tops, wedding ring quilt pieces and this beautiful Mariner Compass Quilt from the 1800′s as shown above, I realized these collectible treasures represent the fabric of life. Each stitch, each quilt block, tell a story not only of their creation but their use during generation after generation! They have lived with families, wrapped babies, warmed the elderly, snuggled the children, caught a few tears in it’s folds and whipped merrily in the wind on many a clothes line.

I’ve heard my grandmother say about an old house as we would pass by, “I bet that house could tell lots of stories.” Well, if quilts could talk, I’m sure they could tell their fair share of stories too!

Today, I read a post on a discussion forum in a quilt group about a lady in Tennessee who said when she got married almost everyone gave them a handmade quilt and they received twenty four in all! She added that for the last forty two years of their marriage, her mother in law had given them from one to three quilts every year! That’s quite a collection without even having to purchase one.

Personally, I think I may only have one or two quilts in storage but I do have a lovely old quilted pillow that my grandmother gave me years ago that was given to her by her mother that has a special place nestled in the corner of my wing back chair in the library. It’s rather threadbare as it would be from the 1800′s. But, I love it and am quite certain it could tell it’s share of stories…a perfect example of the fabric of life.

Grandma Lester's Antique Quilt Pillow