Sickness and Quilting

February 13, 1935  We got a small rain shower.  We took Elmer to Dr. Botkin.  He was quite sick.  Corney and John worked on the road.  Jacob and I got more wood.  Mary sewed on her quilt.  Mama is busy caring for the sick children.

The Siemens had been sick a lot the previous week.  This was a Wednesday, and little Elmer, not quite three years old, was so sick that he had to be taken to the doctor.  And that was would been very sick.  People did not go to the doctor unless it was absolutely necessary.  His wife Margaret was busy taking care of the sick children.

And Cornelius had written the week before that Corney was sick on Tuesday and both Corney and John on Thursday.  And on Saturday, he mentioned that “the children,” which usually meant the older four siblings, were sick.

But Mary must have felt better because she was sewing on her quilt.  It was common for young women to piece a quilt and then to quilt it so that they would have a beautiful bed cover when they got married.  I wonder if any of Mary’s quilts are still in the family.