It is over 100 years old, and when I was a young girl, my grandmother let her twin sister borrow it to sew on when she lived in the upstairs of my grandparents's home.  While my older sister was downstairs getting help on a 4-H project from my grandmother, my Great-Aunt Rachel was patiently upstairs in her room, making me a purple dress for my little doll. 

Her kindness  helped me, as an 8 yr old middle child, to not only feel not left out, but also important.  She fussed over the ruffles and gathers and even insisted on making bloomers, as "every decent little dolly needs a pair of bloomers!"  She let me pedal away on the machine, enjoying the rhythm and seeing the mechanics of how it worked.

Later, in the summer of my Junior year of college, I lived in that same room.  My great-aunt had passed on, as had my grandfather, and it was a wonderful summer with my grandmother, getting to know her better and gleaning from her many talents.  One was quilting, and she patiently showed me how to create my first quilt, which was made out of my childhood dresses.  (When I approached her and showed her the pattern I wanted to do, she said, "Are you sure you want to do this for your first quilt?")

She helped me sew it by hand, and showed me each step of putting a quilt together.  I came to greatly appreciate all of the dedication and love she had put into the many quilts she had made for her children, many grandchildren, and also great-grandbabies.

I started that quilt before meeting my husband, and at our wedding 2 1/2 years later, she presented the quilt to me, complete and with the finishing touch of being beautifully handquilted by herself and her friends.