The Grand Rapids Art Museum has just started free Tuesday admission! So guess where John and I, the kids and Grandma and Grandpa Schuh went yesterday! I can't pass up free admission to a museum!
I was quite excited to go because one of the visiting exhibits featured the quilts of Susana Allen Hunter. I was surprised to find out that Ms. Hunter wasn't an art quilter or hobbyist in pursuit of the perfect look. She was a poor farm wife who made quilts out of necessity to keep her family warm. She recycled bed sheets, clothing, and flour, seed and feed sacks. Some quilts had no batting, some had homespun cotton batting and one even had batting made from lint. She wasn't concerned with perfect lines and rarely used any common patterns but merely put pieces of cloth together to be functional. I bet you she never thought that any of her quilts would be museum pieces yet here they are.
My husband was not impressed, but I was. Here was a woman doing what she needed to do to provide for her family and she worked with what she had. She didn't have an unlimited budget and a cute little quilt shop to purchase fabric from. She didn't worry about perfection but time and love went into those quilts. She probably didn't even have a sewing machine. I can only hope that I serve my family with such dedication. There was no photography allowed so I didn't get any pictures but I will remember those quilts for a long time. Those quilts represent freedom to me. Freedom from vanity, freedom from expectations and just a true humbleness. We woman need more of that!
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