The Kingston Quilt...

It was created in Kingston, NY - circa 1930 - by a family of talented women. Ann was just a child when her mother, grandmother, and various aunts sat at a huge quilting frame to quilt this top.

As I sat with Ann yesterday, she recounted the story of this quilt to me. She still can't remember where the kitchen table "went" while the women worked over this quilt, but she can still see the kitchen bustling with the busy hands and chatter of the quilters working at the large frame that held  their handiwork.

It has been in her care all these years, and she has been a loving steward of her family heirloom. As I looked at it yesterday, I marveled at not only the quality of the work, but also of its current pristine condition. It's spotless, undamaged and clean. The whites are nearly as bright as the day it was completed.

This is a Friendship Star quilt (one of my favorites). It repeats throughout the design, and will symbolize the friendship that Ann and I began over these blocks.

We also spoke about our families. The quilt was born in Kingston, NY. (I was born in Kingston-up-Thames, England); her son is a professional photographer (my husband made his living as a professional photographer); her son's chosen subject of photography is "jazz" (Handsome's life is his music - specifically jazz). There were more such coincidences, but you get the idea. I believe we met for a reason.

The Kingston Quilt now lives with me. 

It will be known by this name from this day forward.

I promised to give it the same love and care that has preserved it for the last eighty plus years. I will continue to marvel at the workmanship of the gifted women who created it, and I'll share its story with those who share my appreciation of it.

I'm going to make a label so that in the coming years, and hopefully another eighty years hence, more will know its history and continue to care for it.