Quilting with Susie at Trails End

When I think of my grandmother’s friend Susie, tying quilts around the dining table at Trails End comes to mind. I’d helped cut and stitch pieces for quilts Nanny made for us four grandchildren. Now I felt so grown up as she, Aunt Esther (or Auntie as we children called her) and Susie invited me, a mere eight-year old, to help tie the quilt spread out on the large table.

Susie also assisted my grandmother, Nanny, and Auntie at canning time, spring cleaning time, harvesting season, and other occasions. She was between Nanny and Auntie in age, as near as I recall. At family gatherings, Susie often attended, helping with the meal, joining the activities. She attended Christmas festivities. We gave her gifts and she made some for us. In later years, when Nanny was an invalid, Susie became her companion.

It was years before we children realized Susie was more than deeply tanned. One evening, we stayed overnight at her cozy home because all of Nanny’s guest rooms were filled with other relatives. Perhaps one of us children asked a question; perhaps Mother thought we’d see some family pictures; perhaps someone had made a remark.

Mother mentioned that Susie and her brother, who lived with her, were Negroes. Their parents had come to the community many years before; Susie and her brother had grown up there.

The fact that Susie was of a different race made no difference to us; she was still “our” Susie and a friend who was considered part of the family. So I never thought to ask her about her heritage and why her family came to settle in the small town where Trails End Farm was located.

I wonder now, if her parents or grandparents had any association with the Underground Railroad. Did quilts play a role in their escaping from the South? Since my prominent memory of Susie consisted of her chatting and laughing with Nanny and Auntie as we tied quilts, I wonder if they were part of her heritage.

When I research, reminisce, and write about the Trails End Quilters, Susie stands out as one of those ladies who contributed to my quilting and patchwork heritage.

(c)2006 Mary Emma Allen