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Sunday, October 27, 2019

A revelation

For my last birthday, way back in March, my sister stopped by with a gift, a quilt she made. Now I own three quilts! One is a light cotton, my summer quilt, one is flannel, my winter quilt, and the new quilt is cotton, but the batt, the lining in the middle, is wool. She has steered her customers to this new wool batt of late. It is light and it is warm, she says.

When she came, way back in March or April, I put the quilt on the shelf for the next season, spring being around the corner. And Laura was packing to move and I was packing to move and it just wasn't the time.

Yesterday I finished my changeover to winter, including changing out bedding. I threw my pillow back on the new quilt.


The pine green that looked nice with my old quilts is a jarring NoNo. I rummaged back on the shelves and found the second case of a pair I used twenty or more years ago.


Now, that is perfect! Jan knows I like green. Purple is her color, though in my dotage I find I'm owning more and more of it. And for the quilters out there, the new quilt is strips of flying geese.

So, last night I slipped under a quilt with a wool batt. It is feather weight, like it's barely there at all. Then the warm turned on. Hard to explain. Years ago a friend picked up a handspun wool sweater I'd made for her husband. He was ill and on the sofa when she went home. She laid it over him and he told her several times how warm it was.

Wool is a different kind of warm. I can explain the reason, but not the feeling. My sister calls the quilts with wool, the ultimate snuggle. 

53 comments:

  1. A homemade quilt is a wonderful thing! I agree that the change of pillow cover is better. I can't wear wool against my skin, but the wool inside the quilt would be nice. -Jenn

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  2. I think about this from time to time. There is no warmth in clothing or blankets per se, but some sure hold the heat better and block the cold too, I guess.

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    1. There is no finer insulation than wool. It holds heat in in winter and breathes it out in summer.

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  3. It is so lovely! The colors are perfect and the pattern uses them well. Your sister was correct about that light wool. It is hard to explain about wool batting unless one has had a quilt with it. Keep warm.

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  4. Wool is so wonderful and it insulates even when wet...This sounds like a wonderful quilt from your sister! And I love those colors!

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    1. Yes. Think of those Gaelic fishermen in wool sweaters, braving the seas.

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  5. What a beautiful quilt! Enjoy snuggling under its warmth!

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  6. It was a nice surprise for you. It sounds cuddly.

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  7. Very nice, especially with the different pillow case. I run so hot I don't think a wool quilt would be comfortable for me at all.

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  8. What a beautiful flying geese quilt! I make quilts and it is important to me that I have made one for each one of my loved ones. It is my way of showing my love and I imagine your sister feels the same way. A perfect gift!

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  9. Your sister is gifted. I think that the lighter green pillow case works well with the cotton quilt. Are your other siblings as creative as you and Jan?

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    1. In retrospect Bea, we were double dosed. My father was a skilled amateur woodworker, my mother a skilled needlewoman, and our brother a gifted woodworker who could build anything we wanted and could explain. And for our little brother, we'll never know. He died when he was 28. We always remembered him as the one who read the directions to our other brother.
      Thank you for the compliment.

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  10. Oh that is lovely. And wool, yes, it's coming back into favour, used as insulation in houses, etc. I'm a duvet lover, I love the lightness and the cosiness but on a really cold night I throw a quilt on top of my duvet. The pale green is wonderful with purple.

    XO
    WWW

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  11. That is gorgeous! I hope you enjoy the snuggliness and warmth.

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  12. Such a beautiful quilt! I need to find something wool. Even though it doesn't get as cold here as Montana it does get "cool" and I am struggling on some winter days to feel warmth when trying to sleep. Who knew the answer was as simple as wool?'

    betty

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  13. That is truly lovely - and I hope you continue to revel in the snuggle.

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  14. That is a beautiful, beautiful quilt. And much as I like green, I'd have to put a purple pillowcase on it. I understand about the 'warm turning on', I get the same snuggly warmth from my feather doonas.

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  15. You and your sister are so talented , you both make wonderful things.

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  16. As an ex spinster (the spinning sort) I know only too well the joy and warmth of wool. The Blackwell bridge in Darlington was built on a foundation of wool and has stood for 180 years.

    LX

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  17. Replies
    1. It's the perspective, plus the lines of the quilt. Fools a camera every time.

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  18. Beautiful quilt. We have patchwork quilts my grandmother made and they are still keeping us warm.

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  19. My wife is a quilter so I will show this to her. She always enjoys seeing what others produce. Around here there are a few young people taking it up which is encouraging. It would be sad for this exquisite art form to pass into memory. It is a great pleasure to be married to a quilter.

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  20. That quilt is gorgeous! I love the colors.

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  21. Have I told you that there is the American Museum just outside Bath which has a fantastic collection of early quilts? They are beautiful and some of them so intricate. In the 1970s there was a big craze amongst young women here for making quilts. I think I might have told you that too.

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    1. It's OK. It's among what I lost in the Red Bus accident. It's pleasant to be reminded.

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  22. What a gorgeous quilt! And it seems to me that no matter how clever we humans become with our technologically produced fibers and fillers, we will never be able to come close to the true comfort and utilitarianism of cotton, of wool, of down.

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  23. Beautiful!!!
    More than a work of art, a work of life.

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  24. Your sister does beautiful work. The quilt is gorgeous and the pillow you chose is just right. I like warm blankets but can not sleep with anything hot at night. Everything, except the sheet and a very light cover is rolled down when I sleep.

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  25. That is a beautiful quilt! I think that wool and down are the two warmest ingredients for bed coverings (and body coverings). Since I keep my house at a rather low temperature, during the coldest part of winter I am snug under a down blanket, topped with a down comforter. If it really gets cold, there's always the 10 lb. wool blanket.

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  26. it is a gorgeous quilt. one of the things I like about my quilts besides the warmth is their weight.

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  27. Hari OM
    Perfection on all counts!!! YAM xx

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  28. That's a beautiful quilt - enjoy it in good health! You are so right about wool. If you have cold feet, or if polyester fleece slippers make your feet sweat, there's absolutely nothing on earth better than sheepskin slippers. Well worth the investment.

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  29. That quilt looks and sounds wonderful!

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  30. that is a gorgeous quite! AND you are right, wool is the only fiber that works for all seasons, really. Wool is what we use up here, where it is cold and damp,

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  31. What a wonderful quilt. I love all the recurring triangles.

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  32. That is a gorgeous quilt. I am partial to purple so I may be biased :)

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  33. You lucky girl - beautiful quilt - wonderful sister.. Mary Ellen

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  34. Dear Joanna, that quilt is truly lovely. I'll say to you what my Grandma O'Mara--a fine quilter--said to me way back in 1961 when she came to visit me in the convent and gave me a summer quilt she'd pieced from old dresses of mine and my mom's. I told Grandma that I'd keep it clean and pristine and put it in my trunk to keep it from become tattered by use. She said, "Dodo, honey, I want you to use it. Just wrap it around you and think of my love when I made it for you."

    So I'm encouraging you to think of your sister's love for you. What a blessing. Peace.

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  35. Beautiful quilt - I love the colors. I expect it will feel nice on a cold winter night. Most times, I can only use a warm quilt a few days before the temps warm back to - too hot to use.

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  36. Such a beautiful quilt. I love the colors she chose.

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  37. Thanks for the kind message. My knee surgery recovery is going well....

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  38. Does your sister want to make me a gift? It looks super comfy, Joanne, and it sounds great after reading your description.

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  39. That really is beautiful and the choice of patterns and colours is wonderful!

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