Mandy's Quilt (Amanda Trill)
Mandy's Quilt was started years ago. So long ago, that I'm admittedly ashamed that it took so long to complete it. The blocks were taken from embroidery transfers and traced from coloring book pages. They were embroidered years ago. In fact, I'm sure one or more of them were done by her Grandmother, Mrs. Flossine Carlisle Hawn. And a couple were probably done by my Mother, Lola Estelline Grant Bandy. I sincerely wish I could say which ones. I did the rest and they remained stacked in a pile that was moved from 617 N. 13th St in Herrin to Prosperity Rd in Johnston City and finally to 708 Sylvia St. in Christopher, Illinois, which is ironically the hometown of Mandy's grandmother.
Life and all its events through the years seemed the major obstacle to finishing this 'well planned' quilt. It seemed that being 'well planned' was about all it had going in its favor. And it was
'well planned', as each block represents something special about Mandy's childhood.
Cats. The center is a lovely yellow
kitten. There were always cats and kittens about the Trill place. And currently, Amanda has a yellow cat named
Lincoln, and a yellow cat named
Abe. It seems a somewhat curious coincidence that many years ago I chose to embroider the kitten in
yellow.
Above the kitten is a
rooster. This is perhaps the most mysterious block on Mandy's Quilt. I'm not remembering anything special about a rooster except that I think
Burl Hawn had some chickens on the rear of his property. When firstborn, Amanda came home to a mobile home located on Mrs. Carlisle's property which sort of backed up to Burl's property. So the
rooster reminds us of
Fudgetown folks and that Burl actually married Flossine later in life.
To the right above is a
sunflower. Mandy's father
Lawrence always raised sunflowers. And they were always beautiful. Seeds were harvested as well to feed the
Fudgetown birds.
Below the sunflower is a coloring book sketch of three
strawberries.
Lawrence also had a terrific
strawberry patch. One year, seems she was about four, Mandy found her way to the strawberry patch and ate her self sickly on fresh strawberries. I think she still really likes
strawberries.
Below that and last on the right side is a
pumpkin.
Halloween was a fun time for dress-up and she always did and came
trick-or-treating to my house in Ferges or in Herrin.
On the left upper is a
sunshine and clouds sketch, another coloring book page. I put that in because Mandy was (is) always a
bright and shining light in our lives and now brings a
smile as I think about past times with her and how she approaches life with such a
positive outlook.
Below the sunshine and clouds is a
monkey. Well, I have to admit I got in trouble the day she came home from the nursery. I went down to see my friend
Clara's baby girl that we had waited and prayed and hoped for so long.
Mother Clara and
Grandmother Flossine were fussing over this wrinkled up little prune and I made the most horrible mistake of saying, bluntly, "She looks like a wart." Not good! No siree! That was not good. So, after I had a chance to think about it, I always called her a little monkey. Not sure anyone liked that much better, but I thought she was awful cute and
Little Monkey was a sweet name to me.
In the bottom left corner, another coloring book page with
honey bees. Remember, in the good old days, we had all kinds of magnets on our fridge doors. Well, I had bees that were magnets, seems like 4-5 of them. When Clara and Mandy came to visit, she played with all the
honey bees on the fridge door. Rearranging them
often and
on every visit.
One block left, at the bottom center. Well, obviously that's a
cowboy boot. When she was 4 or 5 she fell in love with the
Oak Ridge Boys. By 5 years old, she and I were full fledged members of the Oak Ridge Boys Fan Club. That summer we camped in Nashville and went to Fan Fair. Mandy and I climbed the steps of the Opryland Hotel. We went into a large room filled with rows and rows of chairs. The Oak Ridge boys came out, one behind the other, spaced several minutes apart. They came around and actually met and talked with everyone. We sat anxiously waiting. Joe came out first and worked his way around the rows. Then Joe came around the end and started up our row. We were so excited. When he got to us, he stopped in front of Mandy and said, "Hi." Mandy was mesmerized and speechless. She simply could not speak. I told Joe who she was and what a great fan she was. And he tried and tried, but Mandy could not say a word. But Joe understood. And she has been a loyal fan and today, all the Oaks know Amanda Trill by sight and by name. If you don't believe me, just go to an Oaks concert with her (I am in April 2014) and you'll see.
And the rest of the story is that those quilt blocks rested in my sewing room in Christopher until I retired in 2009. Then they were one of the first projects I tackled. I searched deliberately and was determined to have a kitty cat calico print to set it together. I finally found that at JoAnne's in Belleville. I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm proud of the baby-girl-woman that she is. And I am happy to win any kind of ribbons from the county fairs in Southern Illinois for Mandy's Quilt!
