74 - GRANDMA’S QUILT

GRANDMA’S QUILT

17 ¾ x 21 inches

(Quilt made by Grandmother Young)

As a teenager, I learned that solitude stimulated my creativity, so I asked permission to convert the unheated North storage room in our house into my bedroom. To survive Nebraska’s brutal winter nights, I layered my bed with blankets topped with the comforting warmth of Grandma’s quilt. Grandma had lovingly hand-stitched pieces of Grandpa’s worn-out wool suits to an old army blanket. Even though it was scratchy, it provided the heat needed on those bitter nights when ice was caked on the inside of the windows.

Each patch of shielding love and physical might bonded together to create comfort and warmth throughout the long, cold winter. It seemed to have mystical powers that sprinkled invisible sleeping dust over me, giving me deep, uninterrupted sleep. It transformed the dark into warmth as I slept soundly, dreaming of what the light of the next day would bring.

Oh, how I long to recapture those solid nights of sleep that I enjoyed as a young girl.