McCullough column: Quilting says love in every stitch

Virgie Dean loves to talk and she loves to make quilts. She does both things very well. Born in 1919 on Powlas Road, in Cleveland, North Carolina, Virgie’s family moved to Mountain Road, also in Cleveland, when she was four. At the age of thirteen, Virgie met her future husband, Harry Dean, when his family moved to a farm just down the hill. As they passed the Cline farm with their horse and wagon, a few items not tied down began to fall. Harry, fifteen at the time, stopped to ask for some rope.

It wasn’t long before he began making regular visits to Virgie’s house. In Virgie’s words, she believed Harry came to visit because her dad was lots of fun and “full of himself.” As Virgie got older, it became obvious Harry enjoyed visiting the Cline’s not just because Virgie’s dad was fun and “full of himself,” but because he really liked Virgie. Virgie and Harry married in 1937 when she was only eighteen. The honeymoon was a ride into Salisbury to see a movie and then back home to stay with her mom and dad. A year later they moved to Virginia to help a family member in debt, but before long Virgie and Harry came home to family and friends, living only three miles from Mountain Road.

Love for children

Virgie’s deepest longing was for children, but it was fourteen years before she and Harry had their first child, a son, Randy. Four years later they were blessed with a daughter, Robin. Virgie sees her children and grandchildren as her greatest joy and achievement. Almost on cue the phone rang and Virgie said, “That’s Randy. He’s calling to see if I need anything.” As soon as she said hello, I could hear Randy’s voice on the other end saying, “Mom, I’m calling to see if there’s anything you need.”

After the telephone call, Virgie sat back down to reflect on her life. She believes one of the best things she ever did was learn to sew. When Virgie was fifteen, an older sister told her if she would get a needle, some thread and a thimble she would teach her. Virgie’s first project was a Dutch Doll. She fell in love with sewing from that one project and even wanted to become a home economics teacher, but couldn’t follow that dream because her family didn’t have money to send her to school. Eventually though, she found a job she enjoyed as a nurses’ assistant at what was then known as Rowan Memorial Hospital in Salisbury. Virgie said, “That job was perfect for me because like my dad, I like to have fun and “I’m full of myself.” As a nurses’ assistant, I could help people and cheer them up too.”

Starting to quilt

When Virgie retired from the hospital, she began looking for a hobby and that’s when she took up quilting. She’s made two hundred quilts since 1982. Virgie pointed to a quilt lying across a chair in one corner of her living room and said, “That string quilt is going to be my last one.” A string quilt is made from strips of material left over from other projects, and although it’s called a string quilt the design looks much like a diamond. Virgie’s best friend, Betty Waller, thinks this last one is the prettiest so far.

Stretched across a small wooden frame in the middle of Virgie’s living room hangs a baby quilt of tiny purple, pink, and green squares. Because of the arthritis in her hands and because she’s getting too old, Virgie says this will probably be the last baby quilt. Last year she gave my daughter, Kristin, and her husband, Brian, a quilt she had made for their newborn son, Carson. Little did anyone realize what an heirloom it would become just a year later.

Recently, I read a story to the third grade children at Hanford-Dole called the Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy. In the story, a grandmother tells her grandchild, Tanya, a quilt talks through the love that goes into each stitch. Knowing how much you like to talk, Virgie, your quilts will keep on talking for generations to come.

Dicy McCullough’s book, “Tired of School,” is available on amazon.com, dicymcculloughbooks.com and at local bookstores. Contact her at 704-278-4377.