This old quilt

  
I think this blue-and-white quilt was made by my maternal great-grandmother, Agnes Loretta Warren Carter. But I don’t know for sure. It is not marked. I think I remember my mother telling me that Agnes had made it. I have two other quilts, matching pink-and-white twin quilts that she made for my mother, and that my mother saved for me. I used them on my beds as a child, and they are pretty shabby (well loved, I should say) now. I display them in my house on an old ladder.

Agnes Loretta Warren Carter (1877-1951) about 1899.
She was my mother’s father’s mother.

Agnes, about 1947.

I found this old quilt, which I remember as our family’s picnic quilt, wadded up in the garage at my parents’ house when we were helping my father pack up and move last summer. I brought it home and washed it in the washing machine. No need to treat it gently, as it was already in pitiful condition and desperately needed a really good wash.

Even stained, faded, ripped, and with its binding worn through, I still find it charming. Maybe it is because of the memories. Maybe it is because I appreciate quilts, the work that goes into them, and the people who make them. I’ve thought about making it into some primitive table runners, and using them for patriotic holidays. The blue stars would be perfect on a table set for the Fourth of July, with a big vase of American flags or a pot of red geraniums and watermelon. But not yet. For now, I can’t quite bring myself to cut it up. It would be like saying goodbye.