generations of beauty

I think I have finally found a blog background that I will keep! Sorry for the design whiplash some of you may be suffering from. This one here totally fits me! I love quilts. They make me smile. They make me think about generations. I know, quite a jump. Think about it though.
So many women (do men quilt? I think not.) have handed down their lovely quilts from generation to generation. I can remember the quilt my own mother has in her house that was made by several women, all in community with one another. Each one stitched their signature in a piece of white fabric with the date "1932" underneath and then artfully joined them all together amidst happy scraps of fabric to form this beautiful heirloom. From one generation to another, the art, whether the artwork itself and/or the artisan skill, is passed on. Ah, quilting... It's just a beautiful tradition.

It also reminds me of the way every generation is unique and beautiful and in every family, they are woven together, stitch by stitch, patch by patch. Even those families that are a little less than functional... each person is a part of the tapestry that began ages ago in the Garden of Eden. I think family is one of God's loveliest creations.

I myself do not know how to quilt and I have even had a run-in or two with sewing machines of various calibers. They all had it in for me, I guess. I almost threw one across my house one time. If I sew, I prefer to sew by hand. Bypass modern craft technology altogether. It saves my sanity... kind of. This of course explains in part why I don't do much of it anymore! Little time and limited sanity. :) But I do have a great love for fabric and orphaned remnants. I adopt them and bring them into my home/craft cabinet where they all mingle and keep each other company until the day when I venture to create something fun.

Lately, I have had more of a desire to paint than sew. John has been getting up at 530am the last two mornings so we get to see the sunrise. It makes me think of Proverbs 4:18---

The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter until the full light of day. 

As I watch the light of the sun peak out behind our trees, I try to capture it in my mind so I can one day paint something like it.

Generations

 4 generations: L to R
Me, Michael, John, my sister Sarah, her husband Danny, my mom, dad
Grandma Marie (my mom's Sicilian mother) MawMaw Cowling (the matriarch)

John is sharing his ham biscuit with Great Grandpa Leonard (my mother in law's dad)

Father and Son

returning triumphant from their trip to the mail box

Quilts from my grandmothers: the one on the left is one I found among Gwenn's belongings after she passed away last April (she was Michael's grandmother and a very kind soul) 

The one on the right is from my MawMaw.