Layered Stories, Warmth for the future

Many stories lived in the past, and sadly died.  Quilts and furniture often are handed down, and maybe for a generation the story is told, but then it drifts away.

Double wedding ring quilt .. 1950's

Recently, I looked at my "Art Gecko" bed and realized that I, too, am guilty of carrying stories they might die away. Last year I bought a double wedding ring quilt at an art show, where I learned about quilt stories.  Inside a plastic bag attached with a safety pin, I found the story of the quilt itself.  The quilt sold in an estate at St. Paul's Episcopal Church,  and someone had the foresight to share a glimpse of the owner's life story.  These words broke my heart.       "Her name was Nira......She lived as an old maid since 1961."   I don't want to think her life lonely and sad, but it jolted me to think how our words label people.  Why did she own a double wedding ring quilt? Who gave her the quilt? These questions will go unanswered, but at least I can pass on a piece of Nira Ellen Smith's life story. 

I have several favorite quilts, but  my fragile baby quilt touches my heart the most.  This is an example of what I wrote, then placed in a plastic bag and pinned it to my quilt, so that the story will live on even when I'm gone. 

   Hand pieced cotton quilt made for Letty Stapp on her birth .. in Arcadia, CA by her paternal grandmother,...  This hand stitched squared pattern was used as a baby quilt, then stored for several decades. It is approx.. 50” x 40” trimmed in now frayed pink cotton; the rows create a pattern of solid color then a child’s playful cotton.  These colors now adorn my Art Gecko room. My grandmother, who pieced the quilt,  died a week after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. My grandmother lived in Wichita at the time she made the quilt. As child and teenager I often displayed this quilt.  It did not, however, travel to college with me nor to Killeen, Texas... Upon my divorce in 1973 and with a two year child the quilt joined me, along with a red trimmed wedding ring quilt made by my daughter’s great grandmother Roberts.The baby quilt traveled with me as I moved from Oklahoma to Kansas.. My daughter now cares for her granny's quilts. After retirement we returned to Norman, Ok. The quilt is displayed on a twin bed in my “Art Gecko” room, where I write, dream, and play.  The colors of the quilt still, as they did in my childhood, soften me and keep my heart happy. (*Quilt story pieced together on  January 21, 2016, by Letty Stapp Watt.)

Stories are attached on inside corners. 

Once the story is written and attached to the quilt, the stories become layers of history, layers of lifestories, layers of memories, and layers of warmth as they once were. 

I still have my mother's crochet blankets to label, and I plan to write the story I know about one antique piece of furniture that has been handed down.  That story will go in a plastic bag, and I will tape it to the inside drawer.  

For information on Quilt Care and collecting antique quilts please visit this site:  Buckboard Quilts

What ways of sharing history are using in your homes?

Frost Flowers

Nature holds so many surprises for those lucky enough to explore her daily gift shop. Darlene just happened to be a lucky voyeur one cold early morning at Grand Lake.  Outside, the normally brown grasses of fall and winter sparkled with tiny bouquets of flowers resembling cotton candy or spun glass.

With camera in hand she stepped out among these natural beauties that seem to be found where tickweed grows.  This tickly plant, known more as a nuisance because of its seed ticks, is sometimes called frostweed (Verbesinia virginica) or Indian tobacco.   Unseen and unknown by most of us, at a perfect time of weather changes these tiny little weeds create delicate ice sculptures we call Frost Flowers.

The science seems fairly simple. When the ground temperature is still warm enough for the plants root system to be active, with juices flowing upwards, and the air temperature drops below freezing, then the moisture in the plant freezes, and ice crystals push out through the stem. Nature keeps her gift shop open for these ethereal crystals

to grow, as long as the juices flow, the air temperatures remain low, and the plant is shaded from the sun. How ironic that the early morning sun which gives these frost flowers their glow and sparkle, also destroys the sculpture.

                                    Nature's Gift Shop is Open.

Other sites to visit for more information on Frost Flowers:

rare video of frost flowers

Wonders of Nature

Frost Flowers

Thank you Darlene Bowline for sharing your story and photos of these fragile creations by Mother Nature.