Scraps of Life

Several years ago (probably about 20 years) I made a quilt using the traditional log cabin design with a pink/red center square representing the heart of the home. I didn't hand or machine quilt the pieces when finished. I hand tied it to finish it more quickly. Well, over the years the back of the quilt ripped and tore in several places. I mended it several times but over the years I realized that it had more mends and patches than whole parts. I put the quilt up saying I would mend it someday. I started to replace the quilt back last fall and am finishing it this weekend.

As I've mended the quilt top and taken the time to attach the back, I've had plenty of time to look at the hundreds of pieces making up the quilt. It is like a "scrap"-book of my life from years ago. There are scraps from dresses and blouses I made (I used to make almost all of my clothes) when I worked at the library. I can still remember what those dresses and tops looked like. Then there are pieces of maternity tops I made and wore through the pregnancies of my beautiful, great kids. Other pieces are from outfits I made for them. A piece of sailboats drifting across was a sailor shirt for my son. Another piece with tiny pink flowers is a little dress for my youngest daughter. Still another piece of flowered fabric is a dress for my oldest daughter.

The quilt back was in tatters but the quilt top, although worn, is still a scrapbook of many loving parts of my past reminding me with color and design of many wonderful and warm menories. I know that many people today buy pieces of fabric to color coordinate beautiful quilts and I will probably do that someday, too, but I wonder if any of those quilts could ever have the wonderful memories that a quilt made out of scraps has. How could it have all the loving memories that I have in each one of the pieces in this quilt? It truly is my own very special "scrap" book and I treasure every piece.

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