UNTITLED poem

My neighbor is washing her windows,
And scrubbing and mopping her floors,
But my house is all topsy and turvy,
And dust is behind all the doors.

My neighbor she keeps her house spotless,
And she goes all day long on a trot;
But no one would know in a fortnight
If she swept today or not.

The task I am at is enticing -
My neighbor is worn to a rag -
I am making a quilt out of pieces
I saved in a pretty chintz bag.

And the quilt, I know my descendants
Will exhibit with credit to me -
"So lovely - my grandmother made it
Long ago in 1933."

But will her grandchildren remember
Her struggles with dirt and decay?
They will not - they will wish she had made them
The quilt I am making today.
Cynicky Phin

This will definitely be read often for inspiration, and it is so fitting that I came upon it today. Earlier this afternoon, my brother gave me his quilt that my little grandma made. She made us all one, but I used mine all the time and took pictures of my first baby with it. That one is a memory, but I have this one now...and when I took it out of the plastic zipped bag he was storing it in...ahh, it smelled just like gma's house. She passed at 98, twelve years ago, but to me she is still here and in my quilting, she lives on.

Wonderful post, quiltncrazy. It made me smile. The poem is sweet, but what made me smile was the mental picture of you pulling that old quilt out of its bag, and it smelling like your grandmother's house. That is such a rare thing, to smell something that takes you back in time. It is great that you inherited her love of quilting. Maybe many years from now, someone will pull one of your quilts out, smell it, smile, and think of you.

I love that, quiltncrazy!

I have a paisley print scarf of my grandma's, the one she wore every day, round her shoulders or over her head if it was raining (she died in 2004). I wish I'd kept it in a bag because her smell has all gone, although sometimes I think I can still get a faint whiff, but I think it's my imagination.

K x

love that poem. I like to think I am making memories.

Thanks for the reminder- I forget that we don't need to clean all the time, certainly cuts into the quilting time.

I have an apron of my Gram's. I can still picture her in it, bottom pinned up to hold a berry basket. Gosh, it's hard to believe she's gone 4 years. She was 106 when she passed away. She said she was tired.

barb

The poem is great. Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us!! :D

Thats a wonderful poem! Thank you for sharing it! Neither of my grandmothers quilted, however my grandfather's second wife does. She has given me 2 when I was much younger and she has encouraged my love for it now. I wish I could get a "whiff" of either of my grandmothers and really wish I could smell my Mom! They are all gone now. :(

camilla wrote:
Wonderful post, quiltncrazy. It made me smile. The poem is sweet, but what made me smile was the mental picture of you pulling that old quilt out of its bag, and it smelling like your grandmother's house. That is such a rare thing, to smell something that takes you back in time. It is great that you inherited her love of quilting. Maybe many years from now, someone will pull one of your quilts out, smell it, smile, and think of you.

aww, that's so nice of you camilla. If I am loved half as much as my little gma...she was a dear, and everyone that knew her felt that way.
Everyone in the nursing home loved her and everyone that worked there did special things for her. One guy would sing to her. She asked for him one time while we were visiting and he sang to her for all of us.
I hope I am remembered this way too. I hope we all are.

k3n wrote:
I have a paisley print scarf of my grandma's, the one she wore every day, round her shoulders or over her head if it was raining (she died in 2004). I wish I'd kept it in a bag because her smell has all gone, although sometimes I think I can still get a faint whiff, but I think it's my imagination.


k, it really is the little things like her scarf, that mean so much. I have a deep seated faith, that if you believe in something, that is your reality. :)

littlehud wrote:
love that poem. I like to think I am making memories.

littlehud, I couldn't agree more. :)

barb wrote:
Thanks for the reminder- I forget that we don't need to clean all the time, certainly cuts into the quilting time.

I have an apron of my Gram's. I can still picture her in it, bottom pinned up to hold a berry basket. Gosh, it's hard to believe she's gone 4 years. She was 106 when she passed away. She said she was tired.


barb, I try to get on a roll with my housekeeping so I can hurry to my quilting, but all that does is make me tired. So, sometimes I am just gonna have a quilt-holiday, bc I am 21 and I can! lol! :)

Sulabug wrote:
The poem is great. Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us!! :D

sulabug, I am so glad that Carrie Hall wrote it. It really reminds us, what do I want to be remembered for? Your nick is so cute, is it a real nickname? For 33 years I have been called Squirrelly. I can't imagine why? :D

patti wrote:
Thats a wonderful poem! Thank you for sharing it! Neither of my grandmothers quilted, however my grandfather's second wife does. She has given me 2 when I was much younger and she has encouraged my love for it now. I wish I could get a "whiff" of either of my grandmothers and really wish I could smell my Mom! They are all gone now. :cry:

well, patti, we didn't grow up together, but you all feel like family to me. Every day is a new page in our memory albums. your grandparents and your mom are just several pages back, but it's wonderful to know we can go there. By talking about them, ppl we love are right here with us, on this thread. Your mom raised a sweet daughter, patti. :D

loretta wrote:
Loved the poem! thanks for sharing it!

I got so excited when I read it. I knew everybody here would relate to it. Quilting is the best of everything that means family. :)

oops! :shock: Sulabug, guess you saw, Cynicky Phin wrote this poem, not Carrie Hall, but she could have. She loved quilts so much she dedicated years and years of her life to documenting quilt blocks, etc. so they would go on...I love being a part of all that.
I wish we could see pics of their quilts. We are all making history...awesome! :)

Thank you quiltncrazy! From my heart.

K x

I love that poem! I feel the same way--would much rather sew than worry about dirt. but then I see the dirt and feel guilty for swing!

Thank you

My youngest daughter has a cameo from her grandma. She has been gone over fifteen years, yet the cameo stills smells like her perfume. Every time she takes it out it makes me think of her. We remember with all our senses.

good post thank you :D

littlehud wrote:
My youngest daughter has a cameo from her grandma. She has been gone over fifteen years, yet the cameo stills smells like her perfume. Every time she takes it out it makes me think of her. We remember with all our senses.

I wholeheartedly agree that we remember with all our senses. There are many smells that make me think of individual ppl...like baby powder just takes me right back to when my kids were small and cuddly.

Ruth wrote:
good post thank you :D

yw, I love it, and will probably eventually do it in calligraphy for sewing room, but like everyone here, I also love to share. :D

Ghee quiltncrazy, so sweet of you to share with us. Thanks

yw, paldmal. Like a beautiful quilt, you just want everybody to enjoy it. :wink:

HI,
I'm new to the Quilting Forum, but love your poem. Do you know if there is anyway I can print it out? It is so great you have something from your Grandmother.
Nancy

yes, you can print it out. Be sure and add the author's name as I believe it is copyrighted. You will also need to enlarge it, cause when I printed it, the print came out very small.
Just in case, you hold left button down while dragging over poem, when
highlighted, you right click, and then click on copy. I go to my documents and right click and paste.
To enlarge, you will need to highlight it again, and click on number size you want.
Then go to File and go down to print. If you already knew all that, lol, just go, duuuh!!! :lol: (I need help, so glad to give it, just hope it's comprehendable.) :wink:

Love the poem; it is so true. Funny how a person's smell can comfort us--even little ones. When my mom passed, my granddaughter was 2. She had often fallen asleep on her great-grandma's lap. They lived with Mom at the time. We could not get Jay to sleep (she cried and cried) at night after Mom passed. We tried everything' including me holding her in Mom's chair then my sister suggested putting her to bed with one of Mom's lap afgans. It worked!! Jay snuggled up to the "blankie" and fell asleep with no problems. As the "grandma scent" faded, so did Jay's need to cope with the loss at bedtime.

Great poem. And congratulations on acquiring a new quilt from your Grandma. I'm sure that she would be pleased that it will used it and loved.

kd124, that is a sweet story. Right now, I am the only one that can 'rock' my smallest grandbaby to sleep. I hope it's bc I smell good, lol.

key4unc wrote:
Great poem. And congratulations on acquiring a new quilt from your Grandma. I'm sure that she would be pleased that it will used it and loved.

We were so close, I know that this is how she would feel. ty, key4unc. :)

Loved the poem and the notes about their grandmothers. I've been told that my mother's mother made many quilts. According to my oldest aunt, at one time she had a total of 37 stacked in a pile. How she had time to quilt, I don't know, as she had 9 children in a very small house. No one knows what happened to all those quilts, but I have her glasses. The cousins agreed that I should have them, as I was the oldest grandchild and probably remember her best. She has been gone over 60 years, but I fondly remember little things about her.

Thank you for your help

yes, I feel like this whole thread has been dedicated to all of our wonderful grandma's. I can feel the love every time I read all of these replies.
If by posting this poem I have helped another, I am grateful to Cynicky Phin (and the One that inspired her). :wink:

When I want (or need) a quilt holiday, I begin first thing in the morning. I stay in my jammies and get started as soon as I've put the coffee on. Sometimes I put something in the slow-cooker so that we'll have supper OR when DH gets home I ask where does he want me to pick up supper? Sometimes he suggests going out to eat. I manage to be dressed just in case he says the latter. :lol:

I figure if we don't take the time to quilt, our housework or volunteering will consume us. Those dust bunnies will out-live us, so why die trying to control them and deny ourselves the luxury of quilting.

You know what, Gail, your right. I have to cut out my quilts in time allotments, bc of my fibromyalgia, so it takes me a while from start to finish on a project. I am forced to work on different things, and very little of it is for me or hubby. I am going to give myself more jammies days and play in cave. That's a right fine idea! :wink:

I love this! I have one my grandfather made for me and he has been dead 21 years this August. When I wrap up in it I can still see him at my grandmas house and I can recall what each room looked like etc when he was alive.

My jammie play days are usually on Tuesday and/or Thursday.

oh Henry I am so glad your back. You must be feeling a little better. I know what you mean, about those special memories. You must have a lot of talent in your family. :D