Picnic Quilt

When my daughter was in her last year of school I joined Darlene Zimmerman’s Clothesline Club with my mother. Together we made several fun projects like this one in 1930’s reproduction prints (they’re also called “feed sack” or “Aunt Gracie” prints). We swapped scraps of calico in colors like lake blue, lipstick, mango, aloe and petunia.  We shared lunch and we traded recipes. Once a month we chatted about quilts, about cooking, about antiques and about our mothers, aunts and grandmothers. I was afraid I’d have to give up the club after Heather’s graduation. She may have been too old for public school, but she wasn’t ready to stay home on her own. The club wouldn’t hear of it. I can’t say this often enough: quilters are some of the most generous, hospitable people I’ve ever met. They made room for her and went out of their way to make her feel welcome.