"M" is for Minnie Mouse Quilt
In 1939, when I was 5 years old, our family lived in El Paso, Texas. My mother had a dear friend, Mrs. Barney P., whom we children called "Mrs. Pahdough" because we couldn't properly pronounce her last name. I don't know for sure, but I think the P. family did not have children of their own, and sort of adopted me and my younger sister. But "Pahdough" and I especially loved each other. At some time that year, so that I could have my very own quilt, she made a series of twelve quilt blocks, each featuring Minnie Mouse, a Disney character that was all the rage at the time. Each Minnie is dressed in a different outfit, with a different umbrella, hat and shoes.
As fate would have it, our family moved from El Paso to New Mexico before the quilt could be constructed. My mamma kept the blocks put away in tissue paper, pending the day she would have time to make the quilt. In 1950, we moved to Arkansas, and the quilt blocks moved with us, sheltered safely in Mama's cedar chest.
Finally, in 1954, in the summer before I was married, the ladies of my mother's Sunday School class constructed a quilt using "Pahdough's" blocks, and it was given to me by my mother as a wedding present.
What does a 20 year old with her head in the clouds know about taking care of a hand-made quilt? I used it on my bed until my children were born, then it covered their beds in turn. It had milk and hot cocoa spilled on it; it went to the laundromat; it was used to wrap breakables when we moved. By the time I had sense enough to realize what a treasure I had, it was just about worn out.
But, wait.... it's the surrounding QUILT that's worn out... not the blocks, even though the colors are a bit faded (but not as much as I would expect from fabric 70 years old), a few of Minnie's ears have worn spots, and there are one or two places where the applique stitch is beginning to ravel. I still have hopes of carefully removing the blocks from the worn out pieces that hold them together, and having them reset into a quilt for a grandchild, or a great-grandchild.
(detail from a block)
In the meantime, the bed covering I have always called "Pahdough's" quilt is resting, wrapped in tissue in my own cedar chest.
