I've been working on my genealogy again since the weather has cooled and the days have been somewhat gloomy. I've been working on this line of the family for years, and I just couldn't make the connection that I suspicioned was there. Lo and behold, yesterday I found it. One of my ancestorial lines actually goes back to 1525!
Now, that got me thinking how I found the link. Several years ago I was doing quite a bit of business, both buying and selling, on Ebay. I searched on a weekly basis for anything associated with my maiden name (VanBuskirk). I found a family bible for sale, but the bid went way over anything I could afford. So I took a chance and contacted the winner of the bid. It turns out that there are some connections, but not that close. BUT! The best piece of information she shared was that she was in possession of a quilt that had been "signed" by numerous female members of both our families. This was before the ease of digital pictures, so I can only imagine it in my mind. I've since lost touch with this "cousin", but I am still searching for her.
Now, on to the present. I have a quilt display wall where I like to change out quilts often. This quilt is not THE quilt, but rather a quilt I found at an auction in the country. I just love it. I like looking at the inexact way it was pieced, and I wonder about the quilter from the past. I think it's extremely interesting how the colors all fade on one edge of it, and now it looks like an abstract piece of art. Were these pieces of clothing the family used? Where did this pattern originate?
This makes me always think on my own quilting. Will my quilt survive me with no history because I didn't put a label on it? Will someone cherish it or toss it out to cover a window air conditioner or use it as a moving pad? Will *my* fabrics bleed or fade over the years to make it be an abstract piece of art? And while it's not perfect, will someone still love it?
Food for thought.
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3 comments:
Hi Sharon, love the quilt..it's sooo nice to own some old ones. Rather like old family members and old family pictures, even when it's not our family.
I too wonder about the survive-ability of the quilts I make. But I draw some comfort from the fact that quilting has come back in such a big way, and not just as a necessity to "keep my family from freezing". There seems to be more awareness. I was thrilled the day that my oldest daughter, returning from Kansas City, MO, showed me a "orphan" type quilt that she had rescued from the dusty corner in the rear of an antique shop. It's probably late 40's or early 50's, and quite an assortments of fabrics. But the neat thing is, that for the $12 or $15 dollars, she saw real value in someones handiwork. I was so proud of her that day..*VBS*
Oooh pretty quilt.
Smartass comment of the day: I suspect all your ancestoral lines go back to 1525 and even earlier :)
What a cool quilt!! I love quilts with "ghost pieces"...where the colors fade out and it looks like nothing was there. Perhaps that was a different pink, or a hand dyed pink that just was not as color fast as the other pink that stayed true? Congrats on finding your missing links! That has to feel great. I've got several dead ends on my family. I've gone back to 1629 or so in Scotland...Isle of Orkney. Cant go back any farther, the spelling changed the farther you go back from Malcolmson to Malcomsone....and then to nothing :c/ But I wonder about those people too and what their lives were like and what they could tell me if they could..
Bonnie
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