My ears perked up anytime Daddy or one of the “old timers” told family stories. I have always had a passion for the history of our ancestors and intricate connections to other families and old pioneers. Anytime they started one of their tales they had my complete attention. I wasn’t quite as quick to listen when my mother spoke. She didn’t tell many family stories but when she did, they didn’t have the same pizazz of a storyteller as my dad, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
One day when I was at my parents’ house, Mama took me into the sewing room and showed me a box. She opened the lid to reveal quilt blocks, taking each one out and talking briefly about each of the patterns. Each one looked like a miniature quilt. In the box was also a large piece of fabric she had selected for the backing. I’m sure she told me more about the finished squares, and I’m also sure I didn’t listen, and I’m sure that I wish I would have heard her tale.
Just a few hours before Mama’s death as I sat by her bedside, though I don’t know if she knew it, I told her I would finish the quilts that were left undone. There were at least two quilts for grandkids’ graduations to be finished, another box with a partially completed quilt, and a few unfinished projects.
One day while looking through some of her fabric and items in her sewing room, I found a little box containing 30 quilt blocks. Upon further thought, I remembered Mama showing it to me. What had Mama said? I didn’t remember the story of the individual squares, but I did remember that she wanted it made into a single quilt. Daddy knew nothing about the blocks – he didn’t listen to Mama either since he had selective hearing. How I wish I had listened! It might have revealed the secret of the mystery quilt.
I had no idea how she intended to put the blocks together, so I began piecing them with black strips. But there was something odd. Fifteen of the blocks were a little bit smaller than the others. That puzzled me especially since my mother was a perfectionist and would never intentionally make her blocks two different sizes.
Now what? It required more time and effort, but I knew Mama wanted it completed and she had all the pieces just waiting to be finished. The bigger blocks couldn’t be cut down because it would mess up the individual designs. My only option was to “frame” the smaller blocks to make them bigger. After making the small blocks the same size as the larger ones, I added two strips of fabric pieces and sashing to sew the quilt squares together. I ironed the quilt top, grabbed the backing, and headed to the quilt shop to get the whole thing quilted. When I got it back, I decided to finish the edges with prairie points and binding. The mystery quilt looked good as it hung from the loft railing.
Since I couldn’t show the finished quilt to Mama, I decided to send a picture and the story of the mystery quilt to my aunt who was Mama’s sister and best friend. About two weeks later, I received a response from my aunt along with a photo of a quilt she had made. I was totally surprised to see her quilt contained identical blocks to Mama’s and she used black stripping as well.
Her note contained the rest of the story: The sisters decided to make a “sister quilt”… well if the truth be told, I’m sure that Mama decided…… Both sisters were to make two identical blocks of 15 different blocks. Each sent their duplicate 15 blocks to the other. That way, they would have the exact same 30 squares and have matching quilts. The reason the blocks were different sizes was because one made theirs an “unfinished block” which is the size of the block plus the seam, while the other made a “finished block” which is the size of the block minus the seam. That information made the quilt take on a different meaning. The mystery was solved!
The quilt I put together, on the left, looks busier than my aunt’s. I added two rows of strips so the quilt would fit a bigger bed. If Mama would have had the opportunity to make the quilt, it would have looked just like my aunt’s – I’m sure of it! Look how neat my aunt’s quilt (on the right) looks. Those two sisters are expert seamstresses!