Before There Was Prozac....

Yesterday I pinned four baby quilts and got them ready for machine quilting!  I am experimenting a little bit.  In the past, when I've used minkie or cuddle fabric for the backing, it seems to make the baby quilt quite thick and heavy, even though I use a thin batting.  I have heard of people using just a piece of plain white flannel for the batting so on two of these quilts I am giving that a try.  I'll let you know how I like it!

In Davidene's Quilt Shop in Park City I saw a sign that said:
 "Before There Was Prozac, There was Quilting"
When you think about that, it makes a lot of sense!  In the "old" days, women used to sit around the quilt frame with their friends and neighbors and stitch on someone's quilt, while talking through their problems, often relieving stress and depression just by talking through things.  I think quilting still accomplishes this for most of us quilters!  Angela Walters website is called "Quilting is My Therapy" - I know quilting and quilting friends are good therapy for me!

Al Albrethsen wrote a poem about his wife Annie's quilt group.  They do sit around the quilt frame and hand quilt each others' quilts every Thursday.  His poem goes like this:
The Thursday Quilters
There's a group, the Thursday quilters,
That I've known for quite a while.
Every now and then they quilt here
And I've come to like their style.
They are prone to chat while quilting,
About the topics ranging wide;
But their fingers keep on moving
'Cause the quilting is their pride.

My daughter asked me to reduce her pillow shams from
king to queen size - success!

When they talk of current issues-
Local politics and such-
There is sometimes disagreement
But it doesn't come to much;
'Cause the lives they've led have taught them
'Bout the rules of give and take,
And they'd all prefer some bending
To the smallest kind of break.

They discuss their grown-up children
And they all have come to care
For the nieces and the nephew
And the grandkids that they share;
And if there's a problem looming
For one member of the troop,
It will soon become the problem
Of the entire quilting group.

You can sense their varied backgrounds
In the stories that they tell.
They're diverse from one another
But they're unified as well;
Like a quilt of many pieces-
All distinct in shape and size-
That has been so put together
As to meld and harmonize.

I enjoy their easy banter
As they take a break for lunch
And I cannot help but notice
They're a truly friendly bunch.
And it's been my observation
Of the friendships they have built
That they've stitched themselves together
Like the pieces of a quilt.