Daddy’s quilts

The cooler weather we’re having (well it was cooler when I started writing this) means it’s time to put another blanket on the bed. My go-to blanket is always one of the quilts my Daddy made. He’s 90 years old now and spends his days in a nursing home but in his late 50s and 60s, he made a lot of quilts. Daddy was a plumber by trade but spent his downtime in the yard. We always had a beautiful yard and he just got better at gardening over the years. I’ve said many times that the yard at his last house could have been featured in a magazine. I wish I could say I inherited his green thumb, but I can’t. My youngest sister did but I wasn’t so lucky. During the 1980s and 1990s, Daddy started making quilts during the winter months when it was too cold to work outside in the yard. He got pretty good at quilting as well and for a while, cranked out a lot of them. I asked him yesterday who taught him how to make quilts and he said he taught himself.

The first quilt Daddy shared with me was one he made for my oldest son in the late 1980s. That quilt was smaller than a standard size bed but perfect for a growing boy. My son loved the quilt and still has it to this day. I believe it was one of the first ones Daddy made and was stitched by hand. He eventually used a sewing machine to make the quilts.

For quite a few years, Daddy gave me a new quilt every time I’d go home to Atlanta or when he’d come to Virginia to visit us. I have enough quilts to keep for myself and to share with both of my boys.

The quilt below is one my oldest son confiscated from my collection many years ago. It was too heavy for me so I didn’t mind. As a matter of fact, he brought it with him to Atlanta this week and as he walked into Mama’s house, he asked her if she cared if he brought Paw Paw’s quilt in the house (they divorced years ago). He said it was his favorite blanket.

I’ll always treasure Daddy's quilts.