Every Quilt Has a Story 4
Stitching Together a New Pastime By Jamie Morrison
“No, I won’t sew that for you.” I stared at my friend, Donna, with a stunned, bug-eyed expression. What had just happened? I was so certain my friend was going to help me with my project since I knew she had sewn for others. “I am going to teach you to sew it yourself,” Donna continued. I wasn’t so sure about that since I’m the least domesticated person I know.
My sewing knowledge could be summed up in two experiences. First, the summer between my junior and senior year in high school I participated in the MS Governor’s School. During that time, my major class made a patchwork quilt to illustrate the experiences/culture that made our state and counties special to us. I, carefully, made my quilt blocks by cutting out fabric pieces and whip-stitching the pieces to the back of the block. I felt a sense of pride and happiness with my finished blocks, but I never thought about quilting after that. Second, the only thing I ever attempted to sew on a sewing machine was a pair of shorts that ended up having the leg openings sewn together. Little did I know that Donna was about to introduce me to a pastime that brought me tremendous happiness (and stress relief)! That was four years ago during my Jane Austen era. While teaching remotely from home during the COVID shutdown of my school, I started learning hand embroidery. I wanted to make an embroidered tablet holder but didn’t know how to sew, let alone own a sewing machine! After Donna’s declaration, I found myself at her home the next weekend. There, she taught me how to thread a machine, what the right side of the fabric was, and the importance of the quarter-inch seam. She sent me home with her spare sewing machine, so I could continue to practice. I was very nervous the first night I turned on the machine in my own home. What would I do if I couldn’t remember how to properly thread the machine? What would happen if I broke the needle? What if I sewed my finger to the fabric!? Slowly, but surely, my confidence grew. If I accidentally sewed the wrong sides of the fabric together, it wasn’t the end of the world. My seam ripper undid my mistake and I started again. A lopsided seam here and there didn’t make the quilt fall apart. None of the charm squares had a finger sewn into them. My first finished sewing project was a sweet little charm square lap quilt that taught me some fundamental sewing basics. I was hooked!
Donna continued to teach me at her house once a month and we added two other friends who wanted to learn to sew. Word of our sewing Saturdays spread and we now have eight ladies who join together to sew once a month. This group includes beginners, like me, and more experienced quilters excited to dust off their sewing machines. Some, like Donna, have sewn frequently for years. Others have not sewn since they were in home economics.
My appreciation of the history of quilting and the women who created these works of art have been nurtured by my friends’ stories of growing up watching their grandmothers, mothers, and aunts sew. Some stories have been more traditional describing women gathering around a quilting frame to complete a quilt with family members and friends. Others have been humorous such as memories of a mom referring to large hand stitches as toe nail stitches because your toe nails could get hung in them while you were sleeping. These shared stories have helped me fall in love even more with this hobby! Our personalities are different, and it shows up in our projects. It can be seen from our fabric preferences to the block patterns we prefer to incorporate into our quilts. The differences in the group push me outside of my comfort zone. With these ladies’ encouragement, I put effort into learning new skills to incorporate into quilting projects and make the design elements of my projects more thoughtful and deliberate. It’s amazing that something I viewed as daunting has become a comfort to me and an avenue for relationships with new people!