The Rose Quilt

In 1975 I was 19 and still living with my parents. I had a job F&R Lazarus & Co, a local department store, working in the "music" department (where we sold LP's - this was long before CD's came into vogue) and occasionally assigned to the "notions" department. "Notions" was a section of the store that sold miscellaneous goods that didn't quite fit into other departments, including small makeup bags, knitting needles, and embroidery kits. One of the kits caught my eye: a stamped embroidery kit to make a bedspread. Greatly underestimating the work involved, I bought the kit, which contained a dozen square panels for the top and side panels for the border.

I embroidered one "ring of roses" panel (possibly the one below) before growing weary of the project. Then I stuffed the lot into a bag and shoved it into a closet, forgetting about it completely.



Nearly fifteen years later, my mother discovered her own "quilting gene" and started churning out quilt after quilt. She came across my long-discarded project and decided to finish it. She embroidered the remaining panels,including this rose bouquet:



And then the rose garland border:



She spent a year on it, finishing the embroidery, joining the panels, and then finally hand quilting, following the elaborate design stamped on the panels. She says she nearly went blind doing it, and I can easily imagine that. Her stitches are fine, even, absolutely perfect: exactly 5 stitches to the inch, and each stitch is identical to the other.



The quilt is exquisite, a work of art. The top is stunning, but even the reverse side is beautiful. On the reverse the incredibly delicate stitches are shown to their best advantage:



When she was done, she gave it to me as part of my Christmas present. I will never forget the moment I unwrapped it; I was flabbergasted. Even now, so many decades later, I am still in awe of my mother's talent and patience.