Grandma's Quilt

I don't have many memories growing up of my maternal grandmother, which is kind of odd because they lived right by us, and I know that I was at their house all the time--I vividly remember their house, and what each of them looked like. What I can't really remember about that grandma is what her voice sounded like, what she smelled like, etc. I can't really remember many instances where she said something directly to me. I do remember her when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's--which is ironic, because not wanting to remember her that way was my excuse for not visiting often once she had to go into a nursing home. I was young, middle school at best, and pretty selfish then. It's a similar situation with my grandpa on my mom's side--unfortunately, my vivid memories of him are not good ones.


What I do have of my mom's mom is a quilt that she used to call a "Crazy Quilt". She didn't make it specifically for me, but it was always my favorite, and it came with me when I left home. The thing that I love about this quilt is how unique it is, and also how she used scrap fabric to make it. Although the "squares" show how dated the fabric is, I also know that out of the same fabric, my grandma made shirts for my grandpa, aprons for herself, baby blankets, dresses. I remember seeing a lot of the fabric that she used in and around her house. And the backing is a vibrant light green (the picture doesn't do it justice) that always makes me smile. It isn't a PRETTY quilt, but it's one that I love.

While I would sleep with this quilt every night if I could (and have the past week), it's starting to fall apart. Some of the fabric has even disintegrated almost completely.

I wish that I could fix it all, make it new again, but I don't know much about quilting....certainly not this particular stitch.

At this point, I'm torn about what to do with the quilt from here. If I use it, the quilt will quickly become even MORE destroyed, to the point that it may not be usable at all. On the other hand, isn't that what quilts are for? To be beaten up, and used within an inch of their lives? To be enjoyed?

Maybe I'll just keep on using the quilt, and when it does fall apart, maybe I'll make it my mission to make my own crazy quilt. That might be a little ambitious of me, since I don't actually know how to quilt, but we'll see!