The Intersection of Literary and Quilting

You may know that I am an avid reader. Fiction, nonfiction - I like just about all types. In the sweltering Ohio summer of 1988, I specifically recall reading The Prince of Tides (fiction) by Pat Conroy. Whoa. What a book. Prior to that, I'd read The Water is Wide (nonfiction) by Conroy. I don't think I put the two books together with the one author until some time later. Then even later, I read My Losing Season (nonfiction). All so very engaging and memorable; why, even to this day decades later, I can recall scenes from those books.

When we were on our whirlwind tour through the low country of the Carolinas, we found ourselves in pretty Beaufort, SC, fully engulfed in site seeing - gorgeous mansions, moss-strewn trees, historic markers around every corner. One little house seemed an unlikely one to catch my eye, but it did, and gosh, am I glad! It was the Pat Conroy Literary Center! OHMIGOSH! I made DH circle back to it so we could visit. What a treat!

We walked through liesurely, each of us drifting to items of interest. I turned into one room, and look at what was on the wall - a T-shirt quilt!

It looks to be a twin size, and features so many perfectly representative shirts from Conroy's life - both literary and otherwise. I snapped the picture and continued to browse through the vast collection of memorabilia - yearbooks, letters, family photographs, military honors, sports awards, and so much more. Some pieces of movie memorabilia were included as well - fascinating!

Then I came back through the central entry area, and saw this woman seated at the desk. I'd just seen her pictured in some of the memorabilia on display, so I felt confident she was a family member. Yep! Pat's sister Kathy! How totally awesome. We talked for a good little bit, and then I asked her about the quilt - you will NOT believe this - she is the one who made it!

So we talked a little longer. *smile* 

She told me that she is not a quilter, and had to figure out things. Like, most importantly, how to get words on shirts that were never shirts to begin with. She went to a screen printer and asked for discarded shirts or seconds, had them turned inside out to replicate the appearance of well-worn t-shirts, and then had the words applied as if they'd been t-shirts all along. Obviously, some items actually were t-shirts; Kathy's intention was to fill gaps in representing her brother's milestones and accomplishments.

Kathy shared one specific story about the '3' that you see above. I am sure I won't do the story justice, but it is one Pat apparently told many times, and one that kept him humble. I will  summarize as best as I can. He frequently told of the time he and his classmates were all receiving scores on some standardized tests they'd taken. He was a new kid in the school, and had not been fully accepted by his peers. His name was announced often with incredibly high scores in literacy, composition, and similar academic areas, while classmates' scores were much lower. Finally, scores for mechanical aptitude were announced, and Pat was nowhere near the top. In fact, he was in the 3rd percentile. THAT was what his classmates remembered about him! In his adulthood, he had an engraved '3' mounted near the front door of every house he lived in.

Great anecdote. I hope I remember it closely enough as to how Kathy told it; I wasn't taking notes, and I didn't jot down anything later. I hope my (feeble?) memory suffices!

Now to the quilt - for a first-ever quilt, Kathy has managed quite a remarkable effort here. I would never have thought to go about creating t-shirts the way she did. If you can click the picture for a closer look, you will see that the blocks are appliqued with zig-zag stitches to the blue background. It's just ingenious how she "figured it out." I commend her for her creativity! And what a great tribute to her brother's life and accomplishments. Wonderful.

I've spent time since the visit perusing the internet for nuggets about Conroy who died of pancreatic cancer in 2016. He has many more books that I need to investigate. I can also see myself re-reading those three I mentioned, especially The Water is Wide. Maybe I will also queue up some of the movies made of his books. I'm sorta' wishing I'd bought at least one book at the Literary Center.

Literary interests and quilting interests intersect here today, readers, and I am thrilled about it. What a great vacation memory.

Happy Quilting, Friends!