Blessed are the quilt makers for they bring a multitude of comforts. This could truly be said of Grt. Grandma Etta Hanners. As a Baptist christian, she believed in living her faith, by doing good works. She was a good farmers wife and wonderful quilt maker.
In one of Dads letters, written in 1946 while stationed in California with the Navy, he mentions his Grandma Hanners quilt making, and I quote: "My Grandma made a quilt for me about ten years ago and I liked it so well that she wouldn't let me have it until I got married. Mother will give me one that I liked that she made. I'll probably bum some more from her because I think home made quilts are hard to get and she has oodles of them. Some of the housewives in that part of the country who live on farms will make a quilt for ten dollars and they're wonderful."
Ten years prior to 1946 would have been 1936, when Dad was just a boy of
fourteen. It was about that same time that Dad went to live with some
of his other relatives at Poplar Bluff in neighboring Butler county, and
soon after joined the Civilian Conservation Corps., also known as the
CCC program. In 1939 he joined the Navy and was sent to the Pacific, so
was seldom able to visit his small southern hometown. He never forgot his
grandma's promise of a quilt tho, so in 1946 when he decided to get
married, both his grandma and his mother gave him one of their quilts as
a gift for his wedding.
The above grandma was his paternal grandmother, America Laura Elizabeth Atkinson who had married his grandpa, Franklin Ferdinand Hanners. His grandma was known as Etta and his grandpa as Ferd. But Dad always called her, Grandma Hanners. Etta and Ferd were Dads
favorite grandparents. He had many fond memories of times on their farm
near Doniphan, Ripley co., Missouri, and spoke of them with deep
affection.
America Laura Elizabeth "Etta" Atkinson
America Laura Elizabeth "Etta" Atkinson, and husband, Franklin Ferdinand "Ferd" Hanners, their oldest daughter, (standing on the chair), Birdie Amelia Hanners & young son, (grandpa), Daniel Gladstone "Glad" Hanners.
Left to right: son Glad, father Ferd, dau., Elizabeth Elsie, mother Etta, baby in her lap is dau., Cleta Bettie, and lastly is eldest dau., Birdie Amelia Hanners.
Enlargement of Etta Hanners from the above family picture.
Etta Hanners after WWII.
Snapshot taken in a photo-booth of Etta in her older years.
This is the beautiful 75" x 84" handmade quilt that Dad received from his Grandma Etta Hanners. It is made in what is known as a Spiderweb pattern. As it turned out, his bride to be, (Mom), did not like homemade quilts at that time, so this quilt as well as the one given to him by his mother were never used, but were put in bags and stored in the closets wherever they lived.
Happily for me they are thus in very nice condition.
This is a picture of her very fine quilting from the back of the quilt. It is easy to see this was not her first quilt making attempt.
It is interesting to note that her Spiderweb quilt has this lavender and white floral piece of fabric which exactly matches that of her daughter in-law, Mary Ann Autrey-Hanners Double Ax Head or Apple core patterned quilt block. They obviously shared fabric with one another, and possibly belonged to the same church ladies sewing circle, as they both belonged to the same Baptist church in Doniphan.
Even the red color blocks are the same color, tho this photo show the shades slightly off due to the shadowing caused by the lighting in the room where I took the picture. This also gives a good comparison of the two ladies sewing skills. Etta's stitches are much finer and more numerous in the quilt on the bottom, than her daughter in-law's on the top.
Here we see that the fabric pattern of the two quilts are the same, but they are in different colorways. I found several blocks like this, which tells me they were getting their fabric from the same source. Possibly a small fabric store in Doniphan itself, or at Poplar Bluff, or another town close by?
One of the things I found very interesting about Dads remarks in his letter is that you could get one of these beautiful quilts from the farmers wives for just ten dollars. Of course to us that may seem like almost nothing, but in 1946 that was a lot of money. I don't know if Dad ever bummed more quilts from his mom and grandma, something makes me think he didn't. But even if he did, and they are now long gone, I am just so happy that two of them survived to be cherished by me.
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