editor’s note I have been sewing for five years. The craft has opened my mind to a world of creativity that I could never leave behind. I can make clothes, do alternations, and my favorite, I can quilt. I made my first quilt after my grandfather died. My parents moved his wife, my grandmother, closer to my parents, leaving their home open for us to go through. Out of all of the prize finds in the house, I found the expansive collection of crafting supplies the most valuable. If it were up to me, I would have filled my dad’s truck to the brim with the supplies, but I was limited to only one box full. Aside from the dozen afghan blankets that I snuck into the truck, I filled that box with supplies that could be useful to my current crafts, unfinished projects that could’ve originated over 100 years ago, and finished quilts and crafts that I could display in my home. When I got back home, I had to decide what to do with the unfinished pieces. Display them? Take them apart? Leave them in a box in the attic? I decided that I would learn to quilt. Some of the materials were brittle from age, so I primarily hand-stitched the pieces together. The finished product was made from embroidery from my great-great-grandmother Agnes Yarborough, a backing sheet made from my greatgrandmother Mollie Morrow, and vintage fabric from the sewing collection of my grandmother Ruth Tubbs. Now, I have the quilt in my bedroom at home and nothing has to rot in an attic. I am privileged to share the craft with generations of women in my family and will have that reminder wherever I go. Harding is a patch on the quilt that my life is continually crafting. My Harding patch is designed through love, faith, and hard work. Every reader of this Petit Jean edition also has a Harding patch. Whether this book is displayed on a coffee table, a bookshelf, or kept away with past Harding memories, may it serve as a reminder of your Harding patch and its place in the mosaic of your story. Written by Randi Tubbs 276 Closing Photo courtesy of Jeff Montgomery
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==