Remembering Quilting parties

Historical Photo: 

  The five Sullivan brothers died together on the USS Juneau in WWII.



The USN will not longer post the only siblings in a family on the same ship.

In Waterloo, Iowa, sitting at the kitchen table one brother spoke up about the bombing of Pearl Harbor where a close friend died:
George turned to his brothers and said purposefully, “Well, fellas, I guess this settles it. You know what we’ve been saying we’d do if something like this ever happened. And we’re going to do it together, and if it comes to the worst, why, we’ll be together in that, too.”


            (The quilt patterns I remember similar to mama's.)

Mama did a lot of praying and quilting during WWII.....
I know we have at least two quilters here in Blogsville. But this post:
http://lifeawayfromtheofficechair.blogspot.com/2018/01/quilt-of-memories.html
By Lisa, stirred so many childhood memories. (I didn’t know she was older than me?  LOL) The Quilt of memories.

Most of the older folk know what a quilting frame is. For years mama had one hanging from the living room ceiling. Many times there was a quilt ‘under construction’. When the frame wasn’t being used dad had fixed small ropes to pull it up to the ceiling out of the way. Back then many ceilings were 9’ high.

Many times mama would work alone but usually at least four women would work on the task over all. Alternately working on quilts for each family, At least once a year mama would make what she called a missions quilt. AS in Lisa’s quilt mama would cut 4” squares but sell them to people. Most paid a dollar for a square. Mama would stitch their names into the square by hand. Then put them all together with her sewing machine.  When all the squares were sold, everyone’s name who bought a square was put in the hat and at church one Sunday the name was drawn. The winner got the quilt. One or two years everyone buying a square agreed to an auction of the quilt. All monies went to missions.

I played under that quilt many times as mama worked on it. Also when the women worked with her. Mama and those women were praying women. I heard a lot of prayers while under that quilting frame. In the early years it was praying for an end to the war and the safe return of sons, husbands, brothers and friends. Looking up was never a ‘pretty’ sight, it was a mess of colors, hanging string and some clippings. Mama always told me that is how we saw our lives or problems, but the Lord was looking down and he saw a pretty design, ‘if we were good’.

When Sherry’s mama passed away, mama took the ribbons from all the wreaths and unknown to Sherry made a quilt of the ribbons from Susie’s grave. What a thrill to Sherry. What goes around comes around. Sherry and Shirl took care of mama in her last years.

Thanks Lisa for the memory kick!

(UPDATE: Sherry just told me mama made 4 quilts from those ribbons. One for each daughter and their daddy!)
Nite Shipslog

PS: Little known facts about the USA, from Cousin Tony:
Western Michigan is home to a giant lavender labyrinth so big you can see it on Google Earth.
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        Joan Crawford in her 38 Lincoln.