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Texas Star Quilt
From the front porch there were endless vast
prairie vistas. This was tied up with breathtaking sunrises and sunsets
only witnessed in this far out place. The startling colors of a sunset
whether it is hot pink, cerulean blue, dark ultramarine met with
iridescent silvers and gold's all can be remembered by an artist. This
beauty to be accepted and enjoyed by anyone who simply has to raise their
eyes to it. At night
on the prairie the lonely laughing of the coyotes make a child's mind and
body shiver as to the wondering about it. There was a train travelling
through the long stretch of land and it would lend a lonely call through
the night air. Those moments were a consolation even to a child to know
there was a civilization out there, somewhere. Today, there is not even
that as this old house sets alone, an inanimate skeleton who knows
everything but tells nothing. The telling to be done by only one who
remembers and that only because of a yearning for grandchildren to learn
and experience through words the happiness of the people who lived there.
To say the prairie rattlesnakes are not
remembered or the relentless vise like cold wind is forgotten would be
untrue. To cover over the truth of the fear implanted into one's mind as
to watching your step, or the dealing with the cold will not be done. For
our grandchildren we are thankful for the comfort of the easily heated
homes and we are proud and happy. May the pleasure ever last.
Still let us remember, there is no joy in
waking up to a house as cold as a step in refrigerator or where the ice
has to broken on the drinking water bucket. To endure the needle like
cold for what can seem to be an eternity while the heat is forth coming
from a blazing fire, simply because the large house is too big and not
insulated at all is a recollection.
Velma and Bell were ever vigilant to the
saving of warm fabrics, whether it be from old coats, trousers, dresses or
even parts of partially worn out comforters. These fabrics were cut into
large squares around one foot square. These were sewn into long strips of
squares and then the strips were joined. A lining of another old quilt and
the backing of warm flannel made the heavy weighted comforters to rest
down close to one's body holding heat and warmth so that only ears and
head were cold. Geese
were shot and roasted for a delightful meal. Their down was saved and from
this Bell made feather mattresses. The joy of sinking into these is
unrivalled, not speaking of the heated water beds of today.
In our mind we can still the concentration on
the women's faces as they worked. There was a beauty in the peaceful
expression as their minds were connecting and putting together the fabrics
to warm their families on the cold winter nights. Certainly, over the warm
comforters came the more beautiful intricate quilts. Their design were
intricate as to catch even the eye of a child. There was the Texas Star,
The Wedding Ring, Little Dutch Girls, and so on. |
