Thoughts about Quilting

"The familiar squares of faded patchwork met his eye."

It is wonderful how you run across things in round-about ways...I was checking out something a friend posted, that was completely unrelated... then I searched for "quilt" items within that resource...and found this story:

The Quilt That Jack Built
by Annie Fellows Jackson
1904

(found in full text online - in the Prelinger Archives thanks to the Project Gutenberg eBooks)

This is a wonderful story of a boy who is desperate for money and agrees to "a penny a piece" for a quilt his mother requests. He then enlists his buddies to help him, lest they find out and make fun of him. They use all sorts of scraps - from their clothes, their mother's apron, etc. to cut into squares and then piece them in secret in the barn. The picture above is a depiction of Jack as a grown man looked at the quilt he made when he was 10 years old.

He says, "It was funny...the way I farmed out those two hundred blocks to the other boys. Why here's a piece of one of those little striped waists I used to wear, and there's a piece of Rob's checked shirt and Rhoda's apron. .."

The story is mainly told, I believe, to teach a life lesson; about keeping one's promises. But, it also reveals much more, especially about the power of sewing, quilting and keepsakes... the quilt is a chore that keeps a 10 year old busy and quiet, but it allows him to make money to buy a toy. It becomes something his friends can share in to make some money of their own. And, in his college years, it becomes a valuable reminder of his mother's love and integrity, which helps him remember a promise he made.