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Glamour's Women of the Year
UD vs. Northern Kentucky
Magic visits with area students
Quilt provides snapshots of family's life, heritage
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Braden Laubie, 4 (right), puts his hand over the hand print on a quilt created by Janet Laubie (left) on behalf of the entire family for her mother, Virginia Ellen Biggs Utz, for her 80th birthday on October 10th.ENGLEWOOD — The beautiful quilt is certain to become a treasured "hand" me down.
And not just because it's covered with the handprints that connect four generations.
Creator Janet Laubie says it's a gift that reflects the most important contributions of her mother's life — her family.
Virginia Ellen Biggs Utz of Shelby, Ohio, turns 80 on October 10. The handcrafted quilt will be presented at a surprise party in her honor.
"The colors reflect Mom's love of Ohio State and of Shelby, Ohio's high school colors of red and gray," explains Laubie, who estimates she spent 55 hours creating the heirloom. "Each child, grandchild and great-grandchild is included as a red hand outline, spouses are added in black."
The large quilt is made up of 24 squares, with 20 of them devoted to handprints solicited from each member of the family. The most recent handprint was a great-grandchild born in July.
In addition to the handprints, the Englewood woman transferred family photos onto the fabric — including a glamour shot of her mom in high school, her wedding picture and family graduation photos.
Handprints were transferred onto the center of each square with a light box; squares were quilted by machine in a basic log cabin pattern. Rhinestones set off a few important details.
As the oldest of three children, Laubie says she's been designated the matriarch of the siblings and feels she bears the responsibility for preserving family history for younger family members.
"I was lucky enough to know both my grandmothers," says Laubie, who was blanketed by unconditional love from all of her grandparents but was especially close to her mother's mother.
"She was a woman who seemed to show more affection to her grandchildren than to her own children," she remembers. "Maybe she just had to chill out and could relax more with them."
Laubie hopes she and her husband, James, will be able to pass that same unconditional love down to their own grandsons.
"When the oldest members of our family die, their history dies with them and we can never get it back," insists Laubie. "The younger ones couldn't care less now, but I believe some day they will care. It must be written down so they can find a record of those people when they want one."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or mmoss@CoxOhio.com
