History by the Thimbleful

Julia Sneden writes: My grandmother used to point out pieces of her favorite childhood dresses in those quilts, or bits of Martha’s riding cape, or a brother’s baby dress, or a single square of her father’s worn, velvet vest. A couple of those quilts, now threadbare in spots but still viable, lie on the beds in my son’s old bedroom, and his children sleep under them when they visit during cold weather.