Oklahoma treat

We are all in for a treat now, courtesy of Martie in New Mexico, with a story that might be familiar to many of us who rescue quilts. Martie wrote me this note:

About 10 years ago, I worked part time in a little mercantile store near my home outside Taos, New Mexico.  The owner is from Norman, Oklahoma, and purchased a lot of the inventory from estate sales.  Sadly, quilts, blocks, and tops came into the store and no one had much interest.  I bought what I could, when I could, out of respect and love for the women who did so much work.  Many of those items were hand pieced.  

 

 One top I purchased held a surprise for me when I got it home...it was hand pieced on newspaper from the Daily Oklahoman, in 1942.  You can still read little snippets about Roosevelt sending submarines into the Atlantic, advertisements, etc .  The top has never been put to a back.  Each block is different, like a sampler...all hand pieced.  It makes me want to weep for whoever did this work, because the fabrics are so very worn, I’m afraid it wouldn’t have had a very long life if it had even made it to a backing and gotten used.  I can envision its maker, doing her hand work at night, listening to the radio for news of a loved one...using whatever she had on hand just to keep herself busy.

Last summer I wrote to the museum textile curator in OK City, thinking it should go home, and they had no interest.  I just want to see it get into the hands of someone who will love it and perhaps, as you do with your students and blog readers, share it, teach from it, or learn from it...... I know that it is deteriorating more each year and if I die, my kids will probably just toss it or, at best, donate it to another thrift store.  I would be honored to see it join your collection.
 

Of course I said yes, the quilt top just arrived! Let's enjoy Martie's treat and examine this very original quilt.

Here are a few sections that were paper pieced and their backs. I think about what it must have been like then. Pearl Harbor had just happened and the nation was mobilizing for war, after struggling through the Great Depression......more to come.