By Joe Mayfield
The making of quilts has always been an important part of our culture, and way of life, not only in the South, but throughout the United States as well. In the 30s through the 50s in Alabama, most homes had a quilting frame hanging from the ceiling, which could be rolled up when the women had finished quilting for the day. My Grandmother, Mrs. Johnny Mayfield belonged to the W. M. U. women missionary union, which was an organization of ladies from Hopewell Baptist church that would get together at one of the lady’s home each week.
In the case of my Grandmother, Ma Mayfield, she and my Grandfather just happen to rent their home from Mrs. Weeks, who had the quilting frame rolled up in her dinning room, and once each week, two or three of the other women that belonged to the W. M. U. would come over, then roll down the poles to just above the dinning table, and each of the quilters would pull up a chair and bring out their needles and began to quilt. As a six year old boy I wanted to be outside playing, but quilting was usually done in the winter when there were no chores that could be done out side, and Ma wanted to keep an eye on me if Pa was hunting, so I would watch as they quilted, or go get coal for the heater.
I remember my Dad taking Ma to Watson’s Dry Goods in Cullman so she could purchase the big rolls of cotton which would be used in the middle of the quilt, this was called batting. While there, she would also purchase the backing, which some people call ticking. This backing material is no longer made; the quilts of today have to have something else for a bottom layer, such as a sheet. One couldn’t help but wonder how they could sit still, and do this all day, but this gave them the opportunity to talk about what was going on at church, and swap recipes, and who needed the quilt.
Before the women would meet at Mrs. Weeks home, they would gather all the scrapes of material they could find, from old worn out cloths, to the scraps left over from making a shirt or dress. Then these scraps would be pieced together to make the top. They were making functional quilts, for warmth, unlike the fancy ones you see today that are called wedding ring, or hand and foot print and sell for 1500.00 each.
Once the top had been stitched together, and the women arrived, they unrolled the frame from the ceiling and stretched the backing material over the four poles, then unrolled the cotton, batting, to be used as the center of the quilt. This cotton center would be the key to keeping you warm on cold nights when the fire burned out. The top would then be placed over the layer of cotton. The frame poles were then rolled toward each other until all the women could start from the center, an area of perhaps four ft. by four ft. with a woman on each of the four sides, then as they finished that area, the poles would be unrolled enough that they each would have a new space to stitch.
I recall Ma telling me that when she was a young girl, she would help make quilts, and they didn’t have cotton for a center, they used tow sacks, and that they would boil the sacks first to get the smell out. She also mentioned that flower sacks were used for the backing, so things have come a long way.
I still have many of those quilts today, made with all types of scraps stitched together for a top, and on cold nights they come in handy. So from scraps, you can make a quilt.
Published U.S. Legacies July 2004
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