Daughters
Paul Harvey used to end the “60 Minutes” broadcast each week with a fascinating background story to something most of us knew almost nothing about. We often thought we already knew! He always ended with, “And now…you know…the rest of the story.” I can still hear it in my memory!
A couple of months ago, I told you the story of my great-grandmother’s quilt squares, how they were probably Depression fabrics made without thinking of a particular color pattern. These squares were quite a hodgepodge of designs and colors, not like the modern quilting of today. I had noticed that on the star squares in particular, each “point” was done by hand and then they were machine-sewn to assemble the blocks. The first quilt was a churn dash with a large square in the center and quite uneven. With a little tucking, I was able to make it work and completed the quilt. The second and third quilts will both be made of the eight-pointed star. As I was ironing them on the backside, I noticed little bits of newspaper in the seams. These quilts were paper-pieced, a process to ensure that the shape came out correctly. After sewing the paper patterns onto the fabric and lining up the two pieces, the shape works. The paper is then removed.
Most of the paper was little bits of thick newsprint, much thicker than ours of today. I’ve taken each piece and put them in a bag to keep. One piece in particular was large enough to read some words, which contained “Senate…Halstead…” and some others. After an internet search for the story, I found an article in the NY Times dated March 29, 1889, in which the Senate turned down Murat Halstead to be appointed to the German Mission, which would probably be like an ambassador. 1889! It makes sense now why those fabrics looked so old and were sewn so…childishly. My ancestor was born in 1880, so these were her child quilt squares! I was jaw-dropping stunned!
Mothers used to teach their daughters to sew and cross-stitch at an early age. They made most of their clothes and bedding for their families. Since most girls married in their mid-teens, that meant that homemaking skills were taught to the very young. Those girls grew up knowing how to cook, clean, sew, play nurse, garden, and many other skills, just to survive. They often had to show their handiwork to prospective suitors!
It makes me wonder what we’re teaching our daughters today. Do they know basic skills? Do they know how to sort clothes and do laundry? Read a recipe and follow it? Balance a checkbook? Pay bills? Take care of children? Be a wife?
More than that, do they know how to follow Jesus? Show mercy? Study God’s word? Pray fervently? Trust in God’s provision and direction? Seek Him first, above all else? Give away money or time to serve others? Those can start at an early age!
There are so many places in Scripture that talk about “…tell your children…” or “…teach your children…” and I won’t try to list them. We all see the evidence of generations growing up with no direction, no roots, no foundation. It’s not pretty and they are so lost.
Quilt squares have taught me that what I THOUGHT was in front of me. However, the Depression era quilt squares were not what they seemed—they were so much more! They are over 130 years old, not the 90 years that I had originally surmised. How many more things do I miss for what they really are?
And now…you know…the rest of the story!
