Spider Lake is host to the town of Nevis. It’s one of 10,000 lakes in Minnesota. I sat on the dock and dipped my feet in the cool clear water. To my surprise a number of small sun fish came and nibbled my feet. I couldn’t believe it. What an experience..
There are many loons resident at the lake and their plaintive cries echo across the lake. I was reminded of one of my favorite movies “on Golden pond” A huge crane surprised me as it skimmed the water like a memorial fly past… just feet from the end of the dock. The morning was spent with more experimental dyeing and then we took off for the town of Walker. We had an appointment with a gal at 1.00 pm at the local church. She wanted some advice on quilts. Out of a plastic bag she produced 16 vintage quilt tops. Each one more interesting than the next. We laid them on tables and I was able to go from one to another. The history of the quilts is known but not released… made by a teacher in the 1930’s they were a study in fabric history. Shirts, feed sacks, cheap plain fabric and all pieced by hand with the exception of one that had been sewn crazy style to a foundation. The woman that has them in her possession just wants to sell them. She washed them and now the seams have become frayed and worn.
My overwhelming feeling was that the quilts needed to be kept as a collection. They are a poignant reminder of this woman’s life in the 30’s. I was struck by the precision of the piecing and yet she had used a variety of fabrics… her design concepts were wonderful and extremely well executed. Questions came into my head…. Did she come home from school in the evening and make a certain amount of blocks… why were they never used, or sandwiched or made into full quilts. Did she have the assistance of her two maiden daughters… examining the stitching I thin she probably did.
We talked at length with the gal who now has them in her possession… I urged her to have them professionally valued and expressed that the quilts were worth more as a collection. It appears that there are no living relatives to tell the story or share the beauty of the quilts….It’s a sad reminder of the need to document our quilts as we make them.
What will happen to them, I don’t know. I imagine the story would make a wonderful book with the patterns and history entwined…..
“Our memories like our dreams are ours alone and tell our story”
