|
Nate and Kat: First married kiss |
The wedding was wonderful! My son and
daughter-in-law were married on the beach in Florida with a reception
following in the
Jupiter Civic Center just a few steps away. It was
just as romantic as it sounds. We ate and danced and hugged and
laughed. I loved having so many family members there, but before the
night was over, I felt that everyone there, all friends of the bride
and groom, were family.
The date was November 5
th,
2011. I suppose they could have joined many others in getting married
the following weekend on 11-11-11, but I feel very satisfied that
they chose the 5
th. November 5
th is my
grandmother's birthday. You can read about her
here. She was born in 1899 and died in 1993, but
she seemed very present to me that night. Last spring, before I
realized the double date situation of her birthday and the wedding, I
felt strongly that I wanted to make the bride and groom a quilt. Not
just any quilt, but an heirloom quilt. Kat's wedding colors just
happened to coincide with the colors used in the quilt Grandma made
for my mother for
her wedding day in 1946.
|
Top: 2011 version; bottom: 1946 quilt |
Mom died in 1981, and my sister has
inherited this quilt, still in good condition. I told her excitedly
about my plan and she tried to discourage me. “I tried to copy this
quilt and couldn't do it even when I had no deadline. I don't believe
that women in our time are able to do work of this difficulty.”
Since this sister is a master quilt-maker, with much greater skill
than I have, I wondered what I could do to simplify the process. But
I still had a strong desire to use Grandma's quilt as inspiration for
Nate and Kat's quilt. Now I wonder if my mother and grandmother had
already realized the “coincidence” of dates and relationships and
were encouraging me in spirit.
I decided not to make as many appliqued
daisy squares as Grandma had and to position them in a way that I
thought would be easier to piece together. The quilt I was making was
quite a bit bigger than my mother's quilt. My sister was still
shaking her head, but she brought the quilt to me this summer to
inspire and instruct me. Another sister, living closer, but also a
master quilt-maker, agreed to mentor me through the process. I spent
6 weeks this summer in Florida with my husband and granddaughters as
they attended a drama camp that our engaged couple taught. I didn't
have my sewing machine there, but I bought the fabric and commenced
the applique by hand. I had never done hand applique before, but my
sisters predicted that I would be an expert before the quilt was
finished. It was slow starting, but their predictions came true by
the time the last square was appliqued.
|
Joy and the quilt at the wedding party |
My mentor helped me piece it together
(she was at the machine and I was pressing), and then came the
quilting. After all the hand-applique, I really wanted to hand-quilt
it too, but time was running short. In a marathon quilting bee, I
received help from my sisters, my daughters and daughter-in-law and
even my grandson and at the end, my husband, who took pity on me. My
sister mentor bound it all together and I flew an extra suitcase to
Florida with the quilt inside. I was still finishing some of the
detail work, but it was all finished by the big day! They tell me
they love it. I feel satisfied and happy, especially when, on their
wedding day, I realized it was also Grandma's birthday. I feel loved
and supported by those whose heritage I am celebrating as well as the
children and grandchildren who have come after me.