Great Grandma Stella’s Quilt
A little over a week ago while rummaging through one of our favorite mini flea markets, I stumbled across an odd little bedside table that had a fragment of a yo yo quilt draped underneath the drawer. I immediately tugged at my mom’s arm and expressed my admiration for those lovely yo yos. I had recently been searching for such a coverlet, but had not had much luck. In fact, there have been very few times in my life I have come across such uniquely delicate fabric work. One of those times was in my parents’ antique blanket chest. And sure enough my mom replied, “Do you remember Stella’s quilt? I think we still have it up in the blanket chest. Let’s head home and see if we can find it.”
It took me no time to find the quilt neatly folded up at the bottom of the chest back at my parents’ house. It was all I could do to get down the stairs clutching the musty heap of colorful spools in my arms without stumbling along the way. “Mom, I found it! I found it!” Mom and I spread the patched fabric out across the living room floor in the light of the bay window and basked in the glory of hundreds of lovingly sewn yo yos. This quilt was old. So so old. And my great grandmother Stella Thomas had sewn the entire thing by hand.
The two of us inspected the varied fabrics, trying to count yo yos that had been torn away or damaged. We searched out any distinguishable patterns and traced faded areas with our fingers. Several minutes into studying the sea of spools, mom smiled at me. She knew she had news that I would appreciate. She shared that yo yo quilts were not only completely hand sewn, but that they truly were of work of secondhand art, even in their own day. She explained that like great grandma Stella, most people would make such quilts from their own supply of old clothing, curtains and scraps, especially since the yo yos required smaller cuts of fabric. It was rare they one would visit the fabric store in search of complementary patterns and colors. Mom told me, “You used what you had around the house. You took something old and made it new and functional and beautiful. The patterns didn’t match, but that didn’t matter because it all came together looking absolutely perfect in the end.”
Mom was right. It was perfect in every way. The passing of time has only faintly impacted its beauty. I couldn’t help but sit next to great grandma’s yo yo quilt and smile at all the secrets it was telling me. I realized I must take after Stella. She was creative and resourceful. Her thriftiness made me proud. Her meticulous handwork reflects my inexplicable need to take on even the most tedious of art projects (pointillism…oh the agony) no matter how many years months it takes.
To be honest, I am still debating whether I have the heart to take apart great grandma Stella’s quilt. I feel like I would be destroying a work of art, a piece of history, a mark of my family. But Stella’s spools do not belong tucked away at the bottom of an old blanket chest. So for now, I am trying to make my own yo yo quilt after a quick lesson from my mother, instructions from here, and the help of Stella of course…
