My grandmother Ethel had a group of friends who gathered on a regular basis at her home to quilt. There was a quilt rack suspended from the ceiling in her guest bedroom that contained someone's quilt and when they met, it would be lowered to table level and they would gather around it and each quilt on a section. They took turns working on each other's quilt tops.
I was never present at one of these gatherings, but I imagine they would quietly discuss each other's lives, dreams, worries, hopes, and successes. Children, spouses, neighbors, no subject was taboo. I am sure this not only filled a social need, but provided each of their homes with warm quilts to lie under during the winter. I love to think about my grammy looking at her quilts and remembering what was going on in her friend's lives at the moment each stitch was sewn.
This ritual went on all over the country and was called a quilting bee. I also have a group of friends that meet on a regular basis. We knit instead of quilt, but it really exists for the same reason as my grammy's group - to be with each other, to relish in friendship. We also have beautiful sweaters, scarves, and blankets to share as gifts and that warm our families.
Worldwide women are meeting at these knit-ins and it is a comfort to me to know that no matter how advanced and sophisticated we get as a society, there is still something that draws us, like a moth to a flame, to each other. We still have the need to share, to care and comfort, and to just "be" with other women.
Thank you, Payne County Knitters, for participating in this age old ritual of working with our hands and sharing with our hearts.
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