The warmest quilt in our home is not necessarily our favorite quilt, but it is a close second. It also not the most stunning quilt I have ever made or owned, the colors are not matchy-matchy or even coordinated.  The fabrics are not store bought and their first life was a very functional one but the story of this quilt goes beyond the unique fabrics that make up this one of a kind creation.

You see, my sister had a friend who purchased an abandoned house in Evergreen, Colorado around 1997-1998.  In the house she found a plethora of 1920's-1940's era aprons all in various states of repair yet each one had at least one unique feature in the form of a pocket and/or the sash.  The friend gave my sister Dena  all of the aprons because Dena is so "crafty" and would know what to do with them, well although crafty, Dena really doesn't sew much and really did not know what to do with them all.  She held on to the aprons for a while then called me with an idea...would I, could I, take all of the aprons and turn them into a quilt for her friend? "Sure," I said "send them to me and I will see what I can do with them." A week or so later a box arrived at our Hanahan, SC home, though unsure of what exactly to do with them I had fun unpacking them and spreading them out on the floor to take it all in.

Our house had two staircases, one near the front of the house that went up to the bedrooms and two of the bathrooms, the other was a little hidden, in the laundry room, and went up to a very large room that was over our garage which was two cars wide and two cars deep.  In the south those rooms are called FROG's (Finished Room Over Garage).  That room was so large that it had not one but two sizable storage closets, room for an over sized sofa and love seat, over sized coffee table plus a daybed, in addition to that there was a large area that allowed me to set up an office area and sewing area complete with an L-shaped oak desk (for the office) and my steel teachers desk plus my over sized ironing board which was permanently set up. Yes this room was big...and once the aprons arrived the floor was covered with all of the aprons, after all I needed to be able to see them in all their glory, look for all of the little details that made them so special and once loved.  My only regret is that I never took a picture of all of them spread out prior to cutting them all apart...and cutting them apart was hard to do.

Eventually I did cut them up but not after visiting my favorite local quilt shop, People Places and Quilts  in Summerville, SC and brainstorming with the ladies there about how to turn these treasures into a new quilt. There was not going to be enough fabric to make a sizable quilt so I was going to need to add to it and therein was a problem, but we quickly decided to add in some of "that green" as well as some of the new millennium fabrics,  after all it was January 2000 so why not combine the old with the new? Due to the condition of some of the aprons cutting and using large pieces was simply out of the question, so a modified 4-patch pattern seemed the logical choice.

Here is where the story begins to get interesting...as I was feverishly working on this quilt life happened and I was diagnosed with a rare life threatening tumor called a  Vagal Schwannoma and the prognosis was well, not good. With each doctors appointment the news became worse and as the news worsened with each visit to a specialist so did my determination to finish the quilt and get it mailed to my sister...that quilt became my stress therapy.  As I cut and sewed I thought, prayed, and planned...who would I tell...what would I tell them...how do I tell my children...what do I put on the list for my mom when she came out to help...what would my life be like after the surgery...?  Making that quilt for someone else became my lifeblood as I struggled with life's bigger questions and my fear. And yes...with each stitch came prayers...many with tears shed on the quilt.  My goal was to get to the day of surgery without a stroke or a burst aneurysm and have that quilt finished and in the mail.

Well March 7, the day of my surgery, arrived, no strokes, aneurysm intact (with the aid of surgery to place titanium coils) and quilt finished and mailed! Then life happened...the surgery went as good as it could have and obviously I survived.  My sister gave the quilt to her friend and even made a video tape of the presentation and mailed it to me...I felt as if my part in all of that was complete, but if it was why do I call it the "Boomergang Quilt?"  Ah.....that is because life DOES happen.

The story of the quilt is completely true and took place in 2000, and we moved from Hanahan, to Hilton Head, SC then in 2004 to Stillwater, OK then back to Colorado(after a 20 year absence).  I moved back to Colorado in 2010,  a year before the rest of my family because I was able to find a job in Alamosa and my first night back was spent at my sisters house.  Much to my surprise the quilt was on her guest bed...I was shocked to see it!  Well as it turns out her friend never used the quilt and even felt as if she somehow did not deserve it so she eventually gave it back to Dena who put it on her guest bed, yes you read that correctly...her friend never used it and it was on Dena's guest bed...I was the first person to have ever slept beneath it! I thought... BOOMERANG!

The quilt top had to be lined with another fabric to stabilize the delicate apron fabric thus making the quilt a tad heavier than most the same size (an over sized twin) and considerably warmer.  This particular quilt is not yet the go-to quilt when we are sick but when the temps fall it is sure the first one we plop on our bed for extra warmth.  When I am beneath its layers and stitches I cannot help but be comforted by all its history and thinking of the hands that have wiped the remnants of all the holiday dinners and chicken casseroles over the years. The moms and grandmothers that baked pies and birthday cakes and spilled four, sugar, salt and eggs down the front of them but never soiled their clothes because of their protective and beloved apron. Oh, I cannot forget to mention "Glen" who's name was so carefully hand embroidered on a plain muslin apron...someone's boyfriend, dad, grandfather or brother perhaps? 

Those pieces of history I will never know, they lay between the warp and weft of the beloved fabric but that is just fine with me for that history is not mine.  No, my story starts with the stitches and tears that brought these old aprons back to life.