When I was a child, my mom would sit and tell me stories about her quilts. She would unfold the quilt on her bed and tell me about the names on the quilts. On the green quilt there was a block from Mrs. Powers and one from Mrs. Beck and Momma would tell me about my Great Aunt Willie and her block. These quilts were like little people to me. Each almost had it's own personality and the colors and designs made each one different and special in it's own way.
Momma told me the church she belonged to, the ladies would, when one of them was married, the others would each make a quilt block and give them to one woman and it was her job to sew the blocks together and make the quilt. Momma said it was a way for the other ladies to tell the one getting married, "We are here for you and if you need us, all you have to do is holler and we'll be here."
I've been a member of All Recipes since December of 2007. During that time I have come to think of the other members like my mother explaining her quilts. This lady here, she is pretty funny. Fantastic cook, beautiful dishes and always there if someone had a problem. And this one over here, wow! what an adorable goof. And this one, bless her heart, she does try and sometimes she has a hit but she is constantly improving.
I began thinking about how, if we lived closer together this bunch would surely qualify for a quilt. Well, I thought that was as far as it would go. Once I mentioned it in a post and I got a couple of, "Oh, how nice," and a few, " Wouldn't that be a great idea," and that's where it ended. And I thought that's where the idea of the quilt ended.
Except for one person. One day I got a shout out from Sunnybyrd. She wanted to know if I was serious about the quilt. Well, sure I was serious but also knew it would be impossible to pull off. Sunny asked me if I wanted to give it a try. So, we put our heads together and came up with some idea and she graciously offered to use her blog to get the word out. I was so surprised, people were really interested.
Members started asking questions and all of a sudden, I received our first blocks from Mrs Dach and her daughter, Crystal. I sat here and thought, looking at those two blocks, Good Lord, it's going to happen and I almost cried and said a thank you to the Lord and Momma.
Well, a lot of time and space have been covered since that May day and here we are. Like Momma said, "Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we are gonna' have a quilt." The Lord was willing and the creek didn't rise too much and here we are.
We have 75 members sending in 120 blocks. That's 75 members each sending in a little bit of themselves to tell the others, "I'm here for you." I always thought the theme for the quilt should be, "We are family, I got all my brothers and sisters with me."
And Momma says, when you wrap a quilt around yourself and you feel the warmth it's not warm you are feeling. It's the love that each person sewed into their block that is keeping you warm.
People kept asking for advice about their block and their Memory Book page and It came to me, I don't have a block and I haven't even thought about a page .I went to the fabric store and was just looking around for a fabric that said, "Hello -- it's me." I guess I spent half an hour or so going from rack to rack when I saw my fabric. Cats and kittens playing in a flower bed of pink and purple pansies. That was it. That was what I was looking for. And with the kittens on the fabric, did I really have a choice? So, that's my blocks, me and the kittens.
To my All Recipes family, thank you each for just being you. I am proud to say I know each of you. And as for All Recipes itself, I think it is a first rate place, too. Thank you for giving us a place to come and find a shoulder to lean on or for that matter how to cook the one that was on sale.
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