It’s an art that is passed down from generation to generation and a group of Coahoma County women are working hard on a regular basis to keep it alive and tell a story.
Quilting for Beginners started about three years ago and now sports a half-dozen quilter who come together “most Thursdays” at the MSU Extension office to practice their craft and have a lot of fun.
“Our first class started with six and dropped to three and we’ve seen it pick back up as the word gets out and we find new quilters and friends,” said Martha Harthcock, an associate with MSU Extension. “We’ve had people from age 96 to teenagers come here to do this.”
Harthcock is quick to point out the group has novices and those who have been quilting for many years.
“We got some who are here to learn and we have some who are here to teach,” said Harthcock. “It’s a good group and they work hard to make new quilters feel welcome. We’ve quickly become friends.”
There was a day and age with all girls learned to sew and quilt, but the craft as fallen off as people now buy clothes and quilts from a store.
Harthcock said the basics of quilting can be learned quickly and then the quilter is only bound by their imagination.
Quilting for Beginners has a Facebook page with over 100,000 members from all over the world.
Susan Trimm saw her love for quilting sparked at about age four, literally as her grandmother’s knee.
“My grandmother had hooks in the ceiling over the dining room table,” she explained. “The frame was pulled to the ceiling on ropes and after supper they let down the quilt and went to work. My grandmother was always quilting or sewing. She stayed busy.”
Trim told of pushing the needle through a quilt on the frame and then crawling under the quilt to pull it through and push it back up.”
Trim also told the story of her grandmother lying in bed at an old age and looking at a quilt keeping her warm.
“She said ‘look at those wide stitches. Who quilts like that?’ Then she caught her breath and looked and me and said, “Oh Susan did that when she was a little girl.’ I still have that quilt.”
Brenda Keith is one of the newcomers and said she has learned a lot.
“My mother was a tailor at Shankerman's and I learned how to sew,” she explained. “But I put it down when I went to work and started raising a family. When I found out about this group, I knew this was something I wanted to do.”
While the craft is old, 21st Century technology has made it faster.
Kellie Burke is one who has embraced the changes.
“They have machines that can stitch designs in an hour that used to take people days,” she explained. “They also have cutters that can roll out pieces in minutes. Cutting uniform pieces makes quilting so much easier.”
Harthcock said quilting used to take old pieces of cloth and make a new quilt.
“They took old, worn clothes and cut them up to make quilts,” Harthcock said with a smile. “We now cut up new pieces of fabric to make something old.”
One of the latest fads is to take old T-shirts with school logos or that were picked up on a vacation and stitch them into a quilt.
Deborah Wimberly told how her grandmother made a quilt out of her grandfather’s shirts after he passed away.
“Rather than throw good shirts away, she turned his shirts into a quilt and then gave it to me,” said Wimberly. “I remember him wearing some of those shirts to work and to church. That quilt is priceless to me.”
Harthcock also talked about sewing quilts at the request of family or friends.
“My grandson saw a quilt I did for one of my granddaughters and he said he wanted one. I went and found these cowboy and Indian patterns and design and have made them into a quilt.
“He keeps coming over to the house and wanting to look at it,” said Harthcock. “It’s been a great way to keep in touch.”
Burke is quilting an angel quilt for a friend. She said you can’t see the design until you lay it out on a bed.
“My daughter is eight and her favorite children’s book is Winnie The Pooh,” said Burke. “This Christmas she is getting a quilt with all the Winnie The Pooh characters on it.”
Each in the group told how a little love goes into each stich and a well-made quilt – that is well cared for – can last a long, long time.
“We know the tricks and how to make a quilt come together quick,” said Harthcock. “You could probably sit at home and learn how to do this, but that’s where most people put quilting down.
“This is an art that was passed down from mother to daughter and from friend to friends. That’s the way we do it here.”
And while stitching memories is the obvious reason most quilt, there is also – as with all art – a mysterious side, too.
“I had a friend pick up a quilt at a flea market and bring it to me,” said Wimberly. “On one of the panels there is the name ‘Harold Ferguson, Dec. 10, 1941.’
“I’ve often wondered if some girl didn’t write that on there as she started a quilt for him,” she explained. “That quilt was never finished and I wonder what the story was. Did he die in World War II? Did he go off to war and either he or she broke off the relationship?
“It’s a beautiful quilt,” she added.
And it’s a beautiful story, but then all quilts tell a story.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story and additional photos can be found in this month's edition of Coahoma Living Magazine. Copies can be picked up a the Clarksdale Press Register office at 128 East Second Street.
