Quilts stuffed with memories

For the past week, I’ve been wrapped in memories. When I asked readers to share the stories behind their favorite quilts, I didn’t have to wait long for the tales to come rolling in. Immediately, my phone started ringing and letters filled my inbox. Few things come with as much sentiment as a hand-stitched quilt. They are, quite literally, a patchwork of memory and family history.

Larry Pilcher, of Medical Lake, wrote to tell me about a stunning quilt that has been in his family for 130 years. The quilt, stitched by his great-grandmother in Lexington, Kentucky, was completed in 1876. The date is stitched into the quilt.

“My grandmother gave it to my father who then gave it to me about 40 years ago,” Pilcher wrote. “The amazing thing is that it is in like-new condition.”

Pilcher told me that quilt authorities have looked at the quilt and said it is a museum-quality piece.

“I can’t part with it, though,” he wrote. “The quilt took many years to complete. It is very special to be able to have and touch something as beautiful that was made so carefully and with so many stories expressed in it.”

Phoebe Hruska, wrote to tell me about her treasure. “The first thing people see when they enter my living room is the beautiful quilt hanging on an inner wall,” she wrote. The quilt was a gift from Hruska’s aunt.

“When I asked my Aunt Gertie if she had a quilt she would consider selling to me. she replied that she did not, but she had one she would give to me,” Hruska wrote. “But, she felt bad that the quilt was faded on one corner.”

But it was that faded corner of the quilt that delighted Hruska the most.

“I remembered that quilt on my cousin’s bed down in the little town of Reith, Oregon,” she wrote. “The sun spilled in through the window at the head of her bed and in time faded that corner. I can see it now – 80 years later – in my mind’s eye.”

Mary Ann West, of Chewelah, Wash., called with a story that is doubly precious. After the death of her mother in 1996, West inherited a quilt her mother made when she was 13. The 1932 quilt was stitched with flowers from each state of the country. There were only 48 at the time.

“It was always on the guest bed when I was growing up,” West said.

When West called her mother’s sister to find out more about the quilt, she discovered that it was one of a pair. West’s aunt, her mother’s twin sister, had also made a quilt at the same time.

“That just added to the story,” West told me.

West was able to display her mother’s quilt at the first annual quilt show at the Chewelah museum.

Charlene Luzynski, of Blanchard, Idaho, reminded us that quilts don’t have to be antique to be special.

“In the 80’s my Mom hand-stitched a Log Cabin Quilt for me,” she wrote. “In 1992 I took it off my bed for summer and stowed it under our platform waterbed.” Then, tragically, Luzynski’s house was destroyed by fire.

“That fall our house burned down, and in searching through the rubble there was my quilt covered with that waterbed liner, not a burn or scorch on it,”she wrote.

To Luzynski, finding the quilt intact, in such good condition, was a small miracle. “It is on my bed today,” she wrote, “as beautiful as ever.”

Antiques with a little style

Usually, shopping for antiques and collectibles is a grubby process. You may have to get down on your knees to dig through a box at a garage sale. You don’t wear your little black dress to the flea market. You wouldn’t wear heels to an estate sale. When you’re treasure hunting, most of the time, you dress for the job.

But once in a while, antiquing is a party.

The Cathedral and the Arts Antique Show and Sale, at St. John’s Cathedral, is happening this weekend. The event kicks off with a preview party and sale on Thursday night from 6 to 9 p.m.

With the purchase of a $35 ticket ($40 at the door) shoppers get first look at items for sale, as well as delicious food and wine. There will be a silent auction.

The antique show and sale runs Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Regular admission is $5 and is good all weekend.

St. John’s Cathedral is on Grand Boulevard at 12th Avenue.