Who Would Tear an Antique Quilt Asunder for Jackets and Skirts?
(Erma Bombeck – 1983) Bet you never figured me for a “quilter,” did you? My image brings to mind such phrases as “Connect-a-dot,” “Paint-by-number” and “Drop pouch in boiling water.” Well, you’re wrong. I have always been in awe of anything that a 2-year-old cannot dismantle in 10 minutes. Right now, there is a battle raging between the “purist” quilters and the style-makers as to whether or not antique quilts should be dissected and made as wearing apparel or left in their original state on beds and walls. I’m with the purists. If anyone approached one of my quilts with a pair of scissors and a pattern for a vest, I would personally charge them with assault with a deadly weapon. Would Betsy Ross let you make underwear out of her flag? Only people who have done handicraft really know what goes into it. When I was expecting my third child, I decided to cross-stitch quilts for twin beds. For nine months, I did nothing but grow and sew. Dishes sat in the sink. Beds became nests. Laundry s
