Posted on Thursday, March 19, 2009 | By QUILT Magazine | 1 Comment

There’s No Such Thing as an Ugly Quilt!

Simply stated…I love to quilt!  From the beginning stages of planning my design, to finding the perfect fabric among hundreds of beautiful prints, to cutting and piecing and watching each puzzle piece fit perfectly together!  Oh! and then comes the unveiling after my masterpiece has spent a week away being machine quilted….it gives me goose bumps just thinking about it! Last of all comes the perfect frame given with the perfect binding!  Of course,  I totally expect everyone within a 20 mile radius to ooh and ahh when I unroll my newest creation (even if it is several times within the same day).  Most do, with compliments to spare.

Over the years I have not only enjoyed making my own quilts, but I have been given several heirloom quilts passed down in my family.  Most of these quilts were made within the past 50 years by my grandmother and step-grandmother.  To look at these heirloom treasures, you might not see “perfect points”, precise 1/4″ seams, or even fabrics that perfectly coordinate with one another.  In fact, I have one quilt from my Granny Massie that is made from different shades of reds, greens, and blues that are far from complimentary (I’d say more conflicting).  Hesitantly, it has even been referred to as “ugly” by one of my closest friends!

Now, I ask you, is any quilt really ugly?!?  Sure, the colors may battle each other for dominance and the skew in the points and curves may be easily seen, but if you stand back and gaze at each block within the quilt, you will see a bit more.  

I look individually at each block in Granny Massie’s “ugly” quilt and in the first block I see a tiny rocking chair sitting at the foot of a staircase in which her small frame fit just right.  In the second block I see a nickel saved especially for me and each of my brothers and sisters for the ice cream truck that would always come by during our visit. In the sashing I see the curlers she wore in her hair at night and the net to cover them and keep them in place and in the borders and binding I see many Christmas mornings with Granny Massie on the floor for hours playing with us and all of our new treasures!

I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder and some of the most impressive parts of any quilt, beautiful or not, are the thoughts of people we haven’t seen in many years and memories of our lives with them that each block brings to our heart.  So even if your seams don’t match and the colors you’ve chosen might not be quite right when put together, know that there truly is no such thing as an “ugly” quilt.