Your story, our story: Quilt of meany threads.  This colorful quilt is made from different square pieces of fabric with differing textures and colors. Before I owned the quilt, it was my mothers. Her mother’s mother, Alta Spande, made a different quilt for my mom and her two brothers when they moved to Iowa in the 70’s. This quilt has traveled from Minnesota where Alta lived on their family farm, to Iowa where my grandma and her three children moved to separate from her husband, to California where my mother attended college and resides. The quilts brought security and support to the children as they migrated to a new life. I became a sewer at 14 years old, this family quilt makes me feel close to a great grandmother I never knew. I hand repaired the quilt and replaced some squared that were tattered. I learned a lot about her from repairing this quilt, I saw the care in every stitch she used and the resourcefulness of scrap fabrics and a bedsheet for the back. They were Norwegian farmers who had to be resourceful to survive. I hold this quilt as an inspiration to sew and to connect to my family roots. I would like to know more about my great grandmothers sewing skills and other things she had made. This quilt is very sentimental to women in my family, I will one day pass it on to my future daughter and share the story. 

– Breanna Spazafumo

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more