Having finished a quilt I made for my Mom, which was by far the hardest quilt I have ever made, I laid it out to take pictures of, and it dawned on me there is sooo much meaning in this quilt. At first glance, you notice (well, really it kind of slaps you in the face) that the fabrics do not match. In fact, they are actually fighting against one another!
At first, you might think, how can she ever give this to her Mom! Let me explain...
My Mom, had only one sibling, a Sister, named Lois. My Aunt Lois had a vivacious personality. Bubbly would be a word I would use to explain her. She loved to sew...from clothing, to draperies, to covers for her couch. She had an "eye" for color and detail. She never used a pattern (which I thought was so genius), she would just look at something either in a magazine or store and then go home and replicate it and I mean, replicate it! She was truly an artist. She also painted, and once even needlepointed a cushion for a chair, which was undeniably "spectacular"! She never questioned or painstakingly pondered whether one fabric would go with other, she just knew (the color wheel was imprinted in her brain, I believe) and then she would create...so, after she died I wanted to make my Mom something out of all the beautiful fabric she called clothes. The result was a quilt.
She loved Pineapples on her door to make sure everyone felt WELCOME, therefore, you will see a pineapple made out of material she used as a chair covering. She was an ardent gardener, so a lot of her summer clothes were made with fabric that had, ofcourse, flowers on them. So you will find a daisy print used in some of the borders. You will also see an Iris print that she purchased before she became ill, which I don't know what she would have used it for, so that is the back of the quilt and the binding. In later years, my Aunt along with my Uncle were "Snow Birds", you know winters where in Fla and summers where spent in Long Beach Island, New Jersey where they had a summer home. Those summers, my sisters and parents would visit and stay and they are packed with the most wonderful and beautiful memories that I will always cherish. That is why there is a Lighthouse on one block, but it is not just any "old Lighthouse", this one is special because she painted that yellow bird on another piece of fabric, which I cut out and hand-sewed to the block, flying above, watching over the Lighthouse. There are some blocks where I just hand-sewed sayings I thought would help my Mom cope with the grieving process...they read, "Sometimes you know an Angel only by the Miracles she leaves blossoming in her path after she is gone", and "Angels live among us...they just hide their wings" and ofcourse, "In Loving Memory of Lois J. Budash". There is one block, using the daisy fabric again of a Heart that is broken, but sewn together by a piece of lace (my aunt always used lace to hem her skirts) and by using her lace, I thought it might tell my Mom, "I'm Ok, I'm out of pain now and that I miss you too". The last block I thought of was a hand(my Mom's) at the bottom of the quilt holding a heart and then if you trace this heart up towards the Pineapple there is another Heart...waiting...being caught by an Angel, my Aunt Lois.
So, yes the plaids don't match, the colors are off, but the meaning is there. Life isn't always pretty, it doesn't always go the way you want it, but always on the top (sometimes we have a hard time seeing) there are love ones that make the trip, oh, SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!
Dedicated to my Aunt Lois who was always a ray of sunshine in my Life and
Dedicated to My Mom, who is my Life!!
Mary
