I have always loved homemade quilts. These days the blankets that are commonly sold are lame in comparison. The industrial revolution ruined things for many an artisan, the textile craftsman not least. That said one can still find good, heavy quilts around. My father's mother was an avid quilt maker until her death. She made me 3 quilts throughout my childhood. The last one she crafted has served me for the last 26 years. And that quilt has seen 26 yrs. of steady use; it went with me to university, it lived through my life as a bachelor; it has been a joy to Ramone and I during our slumbertimes. I love -- absolutely love -- heavy, weighty and manly quilts made with a wool core. Oh baby, can you say Thomas go have a restful and content snooooooze? These old friendship quilts are superbly crafted.
The crazy brokendishes design is by some old mennonites; I will forgive them for their theological errors because they made such splendid blankets. It is interesting to note in passing that my grandmother wouldn't have wrapped her or her children in a such a blanket because those perceived theological errors. So close was a person to the work that its very presence was thought to be blessed or cursed by the form that the maker's mind crafted it with; and if in that mind there were theological or moral ideas that could contaminate other forms or ideas? Well, so much for resting contentedly in a mennonite blanket that could've been contaminated with bad religion. At least they took art extremely seriously!
I love this brokendish design which I am told was a favourite of mennonites; I can just picture my grandmother somehow enjoying the verbal irony of the quilt type and linking it to the followers of Menno Friesen.
This last quilt is a very heavy one, being made of wool. It is just the sort of blanket I would love to wrap myself up in.
The weight, the density of the material is not only warm and soothing, but also it helps to hold you still, suspended, care-free and gives you some respice at the close of a hard day's work.
Oh yea, bring it on! I can just see myself enjoying a good slumber under this one. I hope you enjoyed a peak at some of my favourite quilts.
10 comments:
I did not know this about you.
Beautiful! When we were in NY we studied quilts as part of our "Pilgrims" unit. We then went to the Museum of American Folk Art to see the quilt exhibit. I bought a book of postcard of quilts. I think I will have to send you one! Greta's favourite "blankie" is the quilt that Elise made her.
are these all your quilts?
they're wonderful.
my mother-in-law is a superb quilter, and has made a quilt for each of her grandchildren, with 100% cotton batting. (not quite as manly as wool, but suited to the west coast).
I love them.
they are heirlooms that will be passed down to their own children, I hope.
A couple of things.
1)Recently at a dinner at Roger's residence I met an older man who was really quite manly (a widower)and into origami and had been in the Victoria quilting guild. He said that, needless to say, he was one of the only men in the entire history of the organization, but he couldn't see why, since quilts are "all about design". Too true. Then again, so is figure skating. . .
2)What Ramona said above is one of the funniest things I have experienced all day, and it's been a funny day.
3)Here is a nice quilt quote. "I made them warm to keep my family from freezing; I made them beautiful to keep my heart from breaking". Wow, eh? I will find out who said it if you like -- I know it was a prairie woman -- well, obviously!
4) I have a few Menno-made quilts, including an embroidered one by my great-grandmother. It features a little girl who is looking fairly unconcerned as an enormous hornet-like creature approaches her head. It is quite disturbing, and it's on Heulwen's bed.
"I will forgive them for their theological errors because they made such splendid blankets."
Don't you also think, Thomas, that the Shakers perfectly express their theology in wood? What the Mennos are to quilts, the Shakers are to furniture.
I just have to say again what a gift of hilarity the quilt post and Ramona's understated reaction to it have given me. I was up VERY late (watching the men's freeskate reruns, if you must know)and seriously, every time I thought of it I burst out laughing. Then I would test myself and think of it on purpose to see if the effect was wearing off, but no -- explosive laughter every time. It's still pretty potent, actually.
I guess part of the reason it's so funny is that with your distain for Brokeback Mountain, Ramona's "I did not know this about you" could have been taken straight from the movie. Plus it's just funny that you can go all these years and not know something about your spouse.
Blogging is interesting that way-- you are enabled to share interests without being required, as in usual discourse, to wait for a context in which to bring it up. When I was in PhD studies at Edinburgh I remember inflicting a certain kind of torture on myself by reading a book called Relevance, which believe it or not was a VERY fat book completely dedicated to the idea that everything we say has to be perceived by others to be relevant. That's what the whole thing was about. It was while I was slogging through that book that something in the back of my head said "it's just stupid to spend so much of my life on these minute details. I have other things to do!I can't do this! (the problem with doctorates today -- this absurd level of required specialization)Anyway, since I was once pretty into this stuff, though it didn't last long, it's interesting to me that we have this whole new form of communication that transcends that relevance rule.
Thanks for the magic.
my mama makes quilts. i sleep under her first ever quilt every night. she is a fabulous quilter.
hehe, well jenny what amazes me most about ramone's remark is that she actually shares a heavy duty quilt with me, and has done so since becoming my wife well over ten years ago. furthermore, we have had discussions over preferences for down-filled douvets versus layering blankets with a quilt. And so how she couldn't have known I liked quilts is beyond me:) Beside that, I have an appreciation for anything beautiful which shouldn't have surprised ramone at all. But, to be sure, there are loads of things i miss or just go over my head all the time that ramone picks up on. So i can easily see where ramone is coming from. For as you well know, matJenny, I have a definite manly way about me and as such, many see this as rather incompatible with taking delight in 'fine' things like quilting. hence the little preamble about taking delight in quilts being a 'manly' thing:)
The brokeback mountain remark you made had me laughing and shaking. trust me, though, when i go casting flies with kurt or fr.thomas hopko or anyone else, I do actually go fishing:) that scene in the movie when ennis' ex-wife is talking about the note in the creel and how he never 'brought home any trouts' had me chuckling so hard that tears were streaming down. that little touch with the use of 'trouts' threw me over the brink:)
OK. In my own defense... I know Thomas prefers a quilt to a duvet, but I did not know how passionate he was about the subject...
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