.....In the 1940s, some of the ladies of the Roxalana Area of Dunbar formed the “Farm Women’s Club.” Most of the women had grown up on farms and had the skills that farm girls acquired on farms that were nearly self-sufficient. Some of the activities on these farms were common to the “cottage industries” found in rural England prior to the Industrial Revolution. The ladies of the Farm Women’s Club employed some of these “farm house tasks” at their meetings both for enjoyment and for practical purposes.
.....In my memory, the quilting parties stand out. High on the side of Robert’s Hill, which was the hill that I was raised on, lived the Hudsons. Although Brother Thomas Hudson toiled by day along side my father at the Fletcher Enamel Company, his true calling was as a pillar of the Roxalana EUB Church where he was a long time Sunday School Superintendent and teacher of the Young Adult Sunday School Class. I don’t remember Mr. Hudson driving a car, so he walked back and forth to church. Sister Hudson was a very unattractive lady who had a heart of “pure gold.” It was at the Hudson’s that most of the quilting bees took place.
......Across the long front porch of the Hudson house, a huge quilting frame would be “set up.” The time was the years proceeding 1946, because I had yet to enter school and was always underfoot. Like my grandson Jonathan, I was never still for which I received the nickname of “Rastus” from Sister Hudson.
.....In my mind, I can see the ladies lined up on one side of the quilting frame where they could look out over the countryside of Roxalana. It was still pretty much countryside then although now it seems to be “wall to wall” with houses. As the women “pieced” the quilt, they would chatter about this and about that. I know that this was still during wartime, so I know that some of the talk centered on loved ones far from home. As the hands and fingers flew, the quilt would come to the point that some one would have to get up and roll out the quilt a little further.
.......By the time that the quilt had reached this point in the “making,” a lot of work had already been done. In those days, not a scrap of cloth was wasted. Everything that could be used was used. Patterns were either made or remade from patterns that had been handed down through the years. I do not remember them all, but they included the Little Dutch Girl, the Wedding Ring, and the Star within a Star pictured above. Batting for the middle of the quilt had to be bought or salvaged from worn out quilts. Sometimes, the ladies had to make to without the batting using some substitute. Then the backing and the stiched together figures or design were all quilted together with the little tiny stiches. Each stich was a thing of pride.
Those years were stressful years with so many things hard to get. So many things were rationed that it took a wise and experieced wife and mother to "make do" and do serve her family well. It seems that every one had someone who was in harms way on some front. or on some ship, or in some aircraft. Letters from these loved-ones were so cut up by the censors that it was hard to make sense of them which was very stressful. I know that every beginning and end of each Farm Women's club meeting was a time for prayer. I believe that these meetings were important in maintaing the well being of these ladies and their families. And no one missed a meeting or hurried home from a meeting to watch a "Soap Opera" even though they were on the radio at that time.
.....Since my mother was an expert quilter, she quilted at home also. We were never short of warm quilts. This was important, because, since we didn’t have any water pipes to freeze, dad always turned the off the gas floor furnace no matter how cold it was outside. How wonderful it was to wake up shivering and reach down and pull up one more quilt and bask in the warmth.
..... And, each quilt was a work of art. Mom was always looking for or inventing a new pattern, and she was always adding to her “rag bag.” She also used these rags for making oval rag rugs. I can see her setting now during the winter in the rocking chair with her long wooden needle and her rags as steadily and surely a colorful new rug took shape. These rugs were nice to have on a cold that floor beside your bed. At other times, she would be pedaling her old Singer Sewing Machine sewing the pieces together into quilt patterns or making a feed sack house dress for herself out of “Red Rose” chicken feed sacks. Now, my sisters were not to keen on wearing these feed sack masterpieces, but mom wasn't too proud for that And, her dresses were hard to beat at the store. Except when she was sick, I never knew my mother to be idle. With all the things that she did in the crafts, she always had a spotless house where a speck of dust was a major call to action. Often I was sick in the “big bed” and would watch her as she bustled about. In the summer time her quilting was traded in for “outside work,” and, between her and Dad, the place was immaculate inside and out. Late summer and fall was a non-stop canning operation. On top of this, throw in the washing and ironing in which ever last wash cloth was ironed to perfection.
......One more note to these house hold activities. Every drop of water for washing, bathing, cooking, easing dishes, and canning had to be pumped bucket by bucket from the well on the porch. And, it was yours truly who did most of these honors. And, do you know what. If I could go back, I would do it all all over again.