Oma's Pocketbook



Today after work, I finally managed to take pictures of my latest quilt, "Oma's Pocketbook", which I took in our still fallow garden, with a dying battery in the setting sun.


As you can see, it's a coin quilt of sorts - one that's based on the basic "coin" principals, but took a left at Albuquerque as they say. The "coins" were the remnants of the two charm packs I purchased and used in making Spring Forward (which is yet to be quilted *ahem*) and is, in fact made up entirely of remnants; all of those broad swaths of cream and green were pieced together from smaller pieces. Atlhough this isn't the prettiest quilt I've ever made, I'm really proud of it because there aren't anything but scraps and re-purposed fabrics in it. A muslin suit mock-up that I took apart lives in it, as does an old cream dress and the leftovers of little green shirts I made for the boys when they were small; leftover strips of other projects are in it - although you can't tell from the end result - little bits and pieces of mine and my children's history are all in there. Because of that "recycling", I felt as I pieced and sewed that I was following in the footsteps of my quilting foremothers - my Oma and Tantes.

Their quilts were made of worn, but not "worn out" clothes; so pieces of their sunday dresses from years past might be next to pieces of my Opa's old suit, my cousin Miep's smock, or my Oncle Albert's knickers - perhaps a square of my Opa's Opa's overcoat might lie tucked up against a swath of the pink wool cape my Tante Pie gave me when I was 5. Even pieces of old quilts were repurposed into new ones - the resulting quilts were thick and warm and weighed several hundred pounds each (*w*). They smelled faintly of mothballs and more strongly, the good wood smell of my Oma's attic - where my Opa produced endless piles of curly wood shavings in pursuit of his own craft.

As I sewed this quilt, my Oma was with me because I thought of her often, and remembered the time I spent with her as little girl. And while I quilted what turned out to be over a thousand free-motion flowers, I was transported back to her garden and the stories she told me as I leaned against her on a white painted bench or played at her feet. I remembered her warm hugs, and how I felt loved and protected by her, even when she became frail and needed protection herself.

But the image that occured to me over and over was of the old pair of her leather gloves that I carried in my purse for years after she passed - worn through on the baby knuckle of her right hand from her habit of rubbing a spot (real or imagined) on her skirt while she sat on the train, in the car, in church, or later, in her wheelchair, as I pushed her through the paths of her once magnificent gardens.

I thought too, of her black leather pocketbook that I still have and take out from time to time; a roll of ancient King Peppermints in it, along with her embroidered handkerchief and a little red leather coin purse - the clasp tarnished and stiff.

And so I called this coin quilt "Oma's Pocketbook".



I think she would have liked it.

Anonymous

12 comments:

  1. This is a beautiful quilt, and the story that goes with it is so sweet! You're so lucky to have such wonderful memories and heirlooms.

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  2. Oh, this post brought a tear to my eye! I have no family -- both my parents were orphaned and adopted, and their adoptive families disappeared. I have no grandparents, no uncles or aunts or cousins. I absolutely LOVE this quilt, and would love to make one -- using scrap fabrics of my own. Thank you for sharing this with us!

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  3. Kit, this is just gorgeous- both the quilt and the story. I love that you have such treasured memories of your family. Oma and Opa- is that dutch? My family's eastern european and that lingo sounds familiar...

    Anyway, this is my favourite quilt of yours to date. I love that it's recycled. I love its meaning. I love its simple colour scheme. I love it!

    P.S. Have you done your commissioned quilt yet, you naughty thing??

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  4. Grey Cat - yes, I have lovely memories of my much adored Oma - and I think I am very lucky to have them. :)

    QB - your soft heart is a lovely thing! And I thoroughly encourage you to make a scrap quilt. :)

    Sandra - I'm taking a break from making my commission quilt as I type - and I'm about to head back to it. BSP says that "It's the most beautiful quilt you've ever made" - of course BSP says that about EVERY new quilt I make. ;)

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  5. Oh and PS Sandra - yes - it is Dutch - my mother was from the Netherlands and I spent most summers in Holland with my Tantes and Oma and Opa. :)

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  6. Both the quilt and the story are beautiful! What a lovely way to remember your family and your Oma in particular.

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  7. What a greazt quilt and a great story.

    I actually have two quilts that are made like that. From my Grammy's scraps of clothes she made and from scraps of curtains I remember growing up in both her house and ours.

    The one quilt is actually made of her scraps from making polyester suits and is stuffed with old nylons and does weigh a thousand pounds. In fact when I went to college and left it at home it took me a month to get used to sleeping without that weight on me.

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  8. Thanks Crystal - and Marv, it took me a long time to get used to not having that weight on me too!

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  9. The quilt is just gorgeous -- and the story that goes along with it is so wonderful! I'd be tempted to print your blog post about it and put it in a pocket label on the back of the quilt so the story is never forgotten.

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  10. Catherine, the quilt is already in use - we've slept under it the last two nights. It's perfect for this time of year - really light. :)

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  11. I *really* like this one. The pattern is brilliant and simple, but something about it really conveys the *intent* behind it.

    Drop me a line if you'd be up for a hand dyed silk/ quilt trade...

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  12. Anonymous1.1.12

    I love this story about your Oma. When you got to the description of her pocketbook, suddenly, I could smell those mints and visualize her reaching in to retrieve one. You have a gift with words as well as fiber. ~ Lynda

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