Some families pass on old letters, jewelry, books, snuff boxes.
Our family treasures needle work. My sister Helen and I, both quilters and descendants of generations of Tennessee needlewomen, have had passed on to us the delicate crocheted and knitted afghans of our Grandmother, the original needlepoint and hooked rugs of our mother, and best of all, all of our great-grandmother s quilts. We grew up with the tales of Polly s quilt. But we had never seen it. We did not doubt, however, that it had existed.