Quilters: A photo history of memories

When a friend, Kimberly, shared a link to a photo collection showing women at the end of the Great Depression making quilts, I knew I had to share it here. But, this got me to thinking about why we quilt. The motivation behind it varies from person-to-person, but if I had to explain it succinctly, it’s a single sentence from the photo collection. Old Photo Archive says,

Quilting has always been used to pass on family stories and memories, but it also has a long tradition of being tied to acts of kindness and charity.

What I consider my most important quilt was technically simple, a modified Log Cabin. However, the value to the maker and to recipient, my brother, is incalculable as I fashioned each square to represent a childhood memory. Most were from summers spent with our grandparents on their farm. And yes, they lived through the Great Depression. I don’t normally get personal on this blog, but today I want to dedicate this post to the memory of my grandparents, but especially to my beloved grandmother, Mabel Rae, whom we called Mamaw.

She never identified herself as a quilter, though she did make several. She would have been in her twenties during the close of the Great Depression. My talented twin sister, Charlotte, made the collage, shown here. The quotes along the border are things my Mamaw used to say, a lot.

Now, lets take a look at those photos so you can make your own connections to quilters past and present.

Click the link below to view the post.

Quilting in the Last Years of the Great Depression (18 Photos), by Old Photo Archive

{Image credit: Uploaded by Quilting Editor}

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