I was eight years old when Mama, Papa and my siblings moved from Mayfield, Kentucky to Raymond, Mississippi. We rode the train with all our worldly possessions. The train was hot but the breeze from the windows being open helped stave off the heat.I remember the train ride as if it were yesterday. There was an air of excitement on the train as World War I soldiers fill the seats. Being young and impressionable I was intrigued with them. They were handsome and full of energy as they made there journey to the battlegrounds so far away. I made friends with one of them and I was in love. Later he even wrote me a letter and I knew for sure I was in love.
I tell all of this in order for you to understand what was happening in my life when I wore the dresses that later became a quilt. My mother saved these dresses and once I had worn them out the fabrics became part of the makings for a quilt.
The quilt was handmade by my mother, Annie Carter. Sashing, borders and fancy piecing were not to be a part of this quilt. It was simply pieces of fabrics sewn together to make the blocks. Then the blocks were sew together to make the quilt top. Such a simple quilt but the memories of those times come back to me when I see the fabrics in this quilt some 90 years later.
And so the story goes………………….
This story was told by my mother-in-law when she showed me this quilt. It is a story that explains not all quilts have a visual beauty from the colors, textures or workmanship but has a beauty from the eyes of a little girl in 1918.
