My grandmother's Christmas quilt ...

Every Christmas I display my grandmother's Christmas quilt on the hall tree that was in her house and now is in the entryway of my home. The quilt is red and green on one side ... and a flowery floral print on the other ... typical of the practical necessity of not have holiday-only items in the house. Practical was a way of life in the hard-scrabble mountains of southwest Virginia and, later, in Chesterfield County where they moved to better their lives.

My grandmother was named Mollie and was born in 1885 in Alleghany County, NC, which is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains just over the state line from Virginia. She married my grandfather who was from Grayson County, VA, just over the state line from NC, and together they raised 10 children. My mother is their youngest and only surviving child.

I have several quilts that Grandma made with her own hands or with neighbor women. As a child I can remember the quilting frame set up in a spare bedroom where they worked when time allowed.

I'm sure the quilts would be very valuable in the market place ... but they are far more valuable to me. When I was young we actually used them on our beds but today I have them safely tucked away. I want to preserve them for my children.

The Christmas quilt is special ... a reminder of Christmases past.

Photo by SWAC Girl

Quilting Bee at Humpback Rocks Mountain Farm on Friday

Blue Ridge Beauty Quilt

Every cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains had quilts, those warm pieces of art that patched scraps of material together into a cover that kept pioneers warm on cold winter nights.

Friday at the Humpback Rocks Mountain Farm, located at milepost 5.8 on the Blue Ridge Parkway (six miles south of Afton Mountain), a free quilting bee will be held for any who wish to participate.

The frame took up the entire room of a cabin ... neighbor women would gather to visit and sew. My grandmother made many quilts that I own to this day ... cloth that formed a palate of color to show off the unique style and fine stitching of the lady who designed and sewed it.

Step back in time ... try your hand at a few stitches ... and join in an old-fashioned quilting bee! Info: (540) 943-4716.

Miss Mary Showalter, Valley quilter, passes away....

Miss Mary Virginia Showalter passed away Saturday, just two days shy of her 93rd birthday. She was the last survivor of the three quilting Showalter sisters from Stuarts Draft in Augusta County.

For years the Showalter sisters ... Anna, Laura, and Mary ... crafted quilts that fetched the highest price at the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale ... a total of 223 quilts. Throughout the years Valley folks would watch to see how high the price would go for those intricate, exquisitely-handmade quilts that helped raise money for Mennonite mission work around the world.

After Anna and Laura passed away, Mary continued to sew by staying active in her church sewing circle, a group that also provided a quilt each year for the relief sale.

Miss Showalter was born November 19, 1914, one of nine children born to Amos Henry and Lillie Harriet Suter Showalter. Her brother, Truman, is the sole survivor of the siblings.

Miss Showalter helped others all her life. In her youth she spent a significant number of years in mission work in the Kentucky mountains, and was later employed at Western State Hospital in Staunton.

Her legacy is the quilts and, with her death, a chapter closes on the history of the Valley. She will be laid to rest in the cemetery of the church where she was so active for so many years.

The annual Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale, begun on the Wenger farm in Stuarts Draft in the 1960s, was formerly held at Expoland in Fishersville but outgrew that location and moved in 1999 to the Rockingham Fairgrounds. Held the first weekend in October, over 1,000 people are involved in crafts, food, and preparation for the event, and over $3 million has been raised.