My Grandmother's Quilt

Although I have never been close to the grandmother who made this quilt, it was the one I took to college, and the one on my bed now. 

Her handwork has always felt like the calm and love she has never been able to express relationally to me. I think of her hand sewing this in big stitches, laughing with her sisters, all the way happy and at ease for a moment. 

Some of the pieces have torn or fallen out, and I have replaced them with my own scraps. 

From my grandmother's quilts I have learned not to be so precious about what the fiber content is, or even at times, the grain line. 

To create from the heart. 

There is a place for fastidious care, and a place for just going at it with reckless abandon, and for me this quilt typifies that joy.