The day before my grandmother's memorial service my aunts and uncles converged on my home and began ripping it apart. They each took whatever mementos they wanted without regard to the fact that they were destroying my home. My aunt, that liked to refer to herself as my surrogate mother when I was a child, left with boxes and boxes of my grandmother's clothes. She told me she was going to have the clothes made into quilts for the great-grandchildren. I thought that was a great idea. Especially since my son and grandmother were so very close. To clarify I asked if she meant all the great-grandchildren. She looked at me horrified and said "No! Only my grandchildren!" I felt like I'd been slapped. She left moments after and really hasn't spoken to me since.
A week later another aunt came over and began sorting the remainder of my grandmother's clothes. One pile to sell and one to have made into a quilt for her. By the time she left the only clothing remaining were winter coats.
Of my grandmother's 7 children, 14 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren, I'm the only one who inherited her love of crafts. She taught me. It's a love we shared. In her will she left me all of her crafting supplies. Combined with what I already had I've filled a small room.
At first I thought the idea of making quilts out of my grandmother's clothes was morbid. Until this weekend. I found a box of her things that I was supposed to take to goodwill months ago. I felt like I'd found a treasure.
So I've hoarded this treasure and begun taking apart some of her blouses and cutting them to make a quilt for my son. I'd like to have some photos of my son and grandmother together printed on fabric to include in the quilt, as well as some of her writing. Since my son is 6 and absolutely loves monster trucks, the backing will probably be something like that. I'll post some pictures soon.
Good night.
