Dennis’
Grandmother Ward made this slowly-fraying quilt many years ago. The pattern is
Grandmother’s Flower Garden, but I call it “the sick quilt.”
The sick
quilt is reserved for use when someone has to spend a lot of time in bed
recuperating. Its delicate qualities comfort the convalescent, as if it were
smoothing one’s forehead, saying, “There, there, dear.” The old fabric is soft
to the touch and easy to rearrange. It weighs little but holds warmth in its
worn fibers. It drapes and readily conforms to body and pillow shapes, lightly
resting, never weighing down. Its touch is a lullaby.
The sick
quilt provides visual distraction from pain, drawing my mind into a world of
soft color and shape. Its changing folds form kaleidoscope rhythms of light and
shadow, folds and curves, and color juxtapositions across the bed.
The sick
quilt speaks its own biography. It tells of frugality, patience, attention to
detail, and the compelling desire to create beauty. It describes the hands that
turned to needle and thread and the reverie of hand sewing after hard farm
chores were done. Although I never met Grandmother Ward, her legacy to me is
this comforting presence in times of healing.
Copyright
2013 by Shirley Domer
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