Kathy Bohannon’s Front Porch Stories

My husband’s grandmother was a well-known resident of Madras, Georgia.

Lee Phillips may have been best known for the multitude of quilts she handstitched and also demonstrated at Powers Crossroads Fair, back when that was a thing. Of course, anyone would be impressed by her fortitude as a widow raising seven children alone, so it could have been that. Come to think of it, it may have been her appearance on the 1950’s era Queen for a Day show, and the item she chose for her prize.

More on that later.

Grandmother Phillips created legacy pieces and made sure her grandchildren had something she had made. I don’t know if she was able to share something with every grandchild, but she definitely tried. My husband’s quilt was made in the early 1950s. It is constructed of cotton ticking, pieces from clothing and assorted blocks cut from flour sacks. It has seen better days, having been in my husband’s life for nearly 70 years.

Grandmother Phillips lived in a wood framed house on Highway 29, and it is still there today. I recall the rooms had tall ceilings and a bathroom that was clearly a coat closet in its early days. It was so small I could barely get inside when I was expecting our first child. My father in law said it was added “later”. I can’t imagine my mother in law and her six siblings waiting for that tiny bathroom. My brother, two sisters and I would have had fights over less.

I often think of Grandmother Phillips when I sew. I first met her when she was in her late seventies and I was amazed at her ability to do pretty much anything she wanted to do. Quilting and cooking were her number one and two favorite things, only after gardening and canning, which, to be honest, were also numbers one and two.

It was in the mid 1970s when I first went to her home. We had a family reunion, and all of the aunts proclaimed I was “the one” because John had never brought a girlfriend “home” before to meet the family. I remember seeing some sort of contraption close to the ceiling. It was something I’d never seen before. That contraption was her quilting frame.

My mom and both grandmothers had “modern” household tools that helped them with their tasks and hobbies. I had never seen anything like a quilting frame way up on the ceiling, but after a bit of explanation from my boyfriend at the time, I discovered how it worked.

Grandmother Phillips would lower that thing by loosening ropes which allowed it to descend to the level most comfortable for quilting. She would move her ladder backed chair along all four sides as she progressed with her stitches.

I think of her often, most times when I am planning a project on my high-tech machine. I have no doubt that Grandmother Phillips would pass up the chance to work on anything but her old quilt frame, no matter how fancy something else was.

Oh, and that Queen for a Day thing? She was offered everything from a diamond ring to a fur coat. What did she ask for? A rototiller for her garden. Her mule got too old to work so thankfully she decided to go for modern. Maybe folks passing by knew her best by the elderly woman managing a tiller. Whatever she was known for, she was Grandmother Phillips to me, and a great inspiration.

Kathy Bohannon is a freelance writer and inspirational speaker. She can be reached at kathybohan@yahoo.com

July Daily Menu

SUNDAY: German Chocolate, Biscoff Cookie Butter

MONDAY: Carrot, Neapolitan

TUESDAY: Key Lime, Lemon Amaretto, GLUTEN-FREE

WEDNESDAY: Strawberry Lemonade 2.0, Orange Creamsicle

THURSDAY: Strawberry, S’More-O, Baker’s Choice, VEGAN

FRIDAY: Strawberries N Creme, Tequila Sunrise, Baker’s Choice, GLUTEN-FREE

SATURDAY: Strawberry Cheesecake, Pina Colada, Baker’s Choice