Jul 2019 Story - The Blessings of a Quilt

The Blessings of a Quilt

Written By Angela Stout 17 Jul 2019

I love to wrap up in a quilt!  The feel of it and the thought of the hands that stitched it together both warm my heart.  I am sure that many of you have a special quilt that a loved one made.  It may be worn out and faded but treasured nevertheless!

At this year’s reunion we made an announcement for our plan to make a special quilt at Roberts Reunion 2020.  Karen Watts (daughter of Geraldine (Roberts) Herren) had the idea and I think it will be a wonderful time of quilting and sharing.  While thinking about this event, I started thinking about the blessings that come from a quilt…

The blessing of warmth.  First and foremost, our ancestors made quilts to keep themselves warm on the cold nights.  It was a necessity, not a luxury!  I have heard stories told that there would be mornings that when people would get up in the morning and the first thing they would do is shake the snow off the quilt to start their day…without that quilt, it would be mighty cold! 

The blessing of fellowship.  In making a quilt, many times the ladies would get together to work to making a quilt.  I would love to have sat with our ancestors while they quilted and told stories, shared their problems and encouraged each other!  I have tried myself to hand quilt the little stitches.  It took such a long time and for me, it was boring.  But if I had several friends and family sitting around stitching, it would have been much more enjoyable! 

These ladies are not our ancestors but you can get an idea of how they gathered around the quilting frame to stitch and talk.  If anyone has a picture of our ancestors quilting, please let me know because I do not have any.

The blessing of giving.  Often times, quilts were made as a gift for a new husband and wife or a family that needed a quilt.  Materials for a quilt were hard to come by and people used what they had (old clothes, flour sacks, etc.)  When you were given a quilt, you knew the love and care that went into it!  It was greatly appreciated! 

This is the quilt that Pearl (Kinnaird) Roberts quilted as a wedding gift for her daughter Carrie (Roberts) circa 1927.  I can imagine the time and special care that went into this quilt!

So the next time you are wrapped up in a quilt, think about the blessings that it represents!