Sunday, September 12, 2010

Monica's Seven Sisters


I loved this story from Meade County, Kentucky. Monica Brown brought the actual quilt with her, and as I dodged a particularly fierce "attack rooster," she told its story:

“My grandfather’s farm is just across the way. My Grandma Livers came to live there when she took care of his first wife; then they got married. He was fifty-four years older than her.

When my husband, Larry’s mom became pregnant, they were neighbors, and my Grandma Livers gave her a quilt top—a 1930s quilt top from feed sacks. You couldn’t live without feed sacks back then; they used them for everything.

So my grandma gave Larry's mama--we call her Mamaw--this quilt top. With running the farm and taking care of six children, she never finished the quilt. She had told me about it and told me about it, and I said, ‘Mamaw, I really think you oughta give that to me!’ About three years ago, she finally did, and I quilted it to the best of my ability.

So this was a baby quilt, pieced by my Grandma Livers and given to Larry’s mom—Mamaw. She sewed the feed sacks together and put the back to the quilt, and I finished it. It passed from my family to his family to our family.”

The intricate quilt block is called Seven Sisters. Monica says, “Larry doesn’t have seven sisters, but I have seven brothers, so I feel as if it was meant for me. The block is so detailed; they say, ‘Oh you can’t see all of the little bits of color from the road,’ but it’s for me to enjoy.”

3 comments:

  1. AMAZING!!
    Suzi, this story was absolutely riveting! After reading this post somewhere around 43 times, I have decided to build a barn in my backyard specifically as the backdrop to a beautiful quilt such as these. I think I will keep sewing equipment and maybe a few migrant workers inside the barn to keep 'round-the-clock work going on my latest quilts. Please feel free to stop by my new quilt factory/display center anytime you're in Atlanta, GA. Please do not think that the fact that you were my inspiration warrants you any sort of quilt discount though, as it does not.

    Your Adoring Fan,
    Ollie Tabooger

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  2. HMM--gonna go out on a limb here and say that I know you, but which of my oh-so-funny friends are you??

    Of course, you forgot to give me the address of your new facility. Since I live in Stone Mountain, I am sure that I would be a regular.

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  3. Hello I m looking for the pattern to the seven sister book I have 12 blocks that were givin to me n I would
    like to sew the blocks together, thanks my E-mail. magda.drawe@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete