Just last week I opened our linen closet in search of the quilt pictured above. Made by my Great Aunt Florence and given to me when I was in grade school. The colors to this day are still so vibrant. Each square tells a different story and each square was filled and hand stitched by my Great Aunt Florence. Filled with torn, snagged and upcycled knee-hi panty hose. Panty hose collected from all of her friends up North. It’s funny to think about now. Were the panty hose ever washed? L’ egg panty hose came to the market in 1969. A year after I was born. Who wore the knee-hi panty hose tucked away in each perfect square? Where did they wear them and for how long? What did they do in them—go to work? Shop? Church? Were they ever washed? I think not. And I don’t remember ever washing this quilt. I’ve never wanted to wash it. Never drowning all of those memories in soap and water. No stitches coming loose from agitation in a machine. No stitches were ever lost and thankfully so because to this day it is just like the day Florence gave it to me!
Many people have asked me about the cover of my book. Those are thimbles dotting two of the fingers on the cover. The cover photograph is titled “Thimbles” by photographer Heather Evans Smith. The definition of a thimble is “a metal or plastic cap with a closed end worn to protect the finger and push the needle in sewing.”
When I was young we would play “Hide the Thimble” with Florence. Nine out of ten times I’d find the thimble hiding somewhere in or around her plantstand. Three tiers of velvety magenta colored Gloxinias bloomed constantly in the large sunny picture window. We would play the game over and over til someone would get distracted…never really ending the game.
Florences’ thimble sits on our fireplace mantel underneath the wings of a Northern Flicker ceramic statue, waiting to be hidden.