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Jun 12, 2026
The Quilt
Celebrating the stories stitched into each heirloom quilt, from my grandmother’s Double Wedding Rings to the cozy warmth they bring today
Now that I am officially through my mid-life crises, I find myself appreciating even more the family heirlooms dotted around my home. I would love to find a place for several pieces of heirloom furniture that have been tucked away in a shipping container for a number of years now. For some reason, my husband does not agree that this is a good enough reason to extend the size of our modest, but I must admit, cozy and functional home.
- by Tressa Wayman
I was born in America and met my Kiwi husband when studying at Canterbury over 30 years ago. My North Carolinian grandmother, Pansy, (yes, that was her real name) was a prolific quilter. We sleep under several of her quilts every night. There is something about the weight of several quilts that I find more cozy and adjustable than the warmest down comforter. (There’s always a spare quilt at the foot of the bed that gets pulled up during the night.) The Cathedral Quilt, her most difficult and impressive work, hangs on display in my hallway. Each of the multi-coloured windows of fabric are surrounded by intricate, hand-stitched frames.
My grandmother and great grandmother were both industrious and gifted women, but not naturally artistic (I take after them in that last bit) so the patterns and colours they put together were not necessarily pleasing to the eye. The ugliest quilt I own (my favourite) consists of scraps of fabrics from about 6 distinctively uncoordinated patterns and colours…imagine bright lime green with pink flowers juxtaposed with, I kid you not, a patriotic material of stars, stripes, tanks and soldiers. The backside and binding of this unusual quilt is an almost neon orange. The oldest quilt I own is made out of flour sacks. Back in the day (in the American South anyway), flour was once sold in a cotton sack, typically with a dainty pastel floral design. Just like we recycle our jam jars for homemade bottling, these sacks would be recycled for both dresses and quilts.
A traditional wedding gift for many subcultures in America is the wedding quilt. There is a pattern called the Double Wedding Ring that my grandmother was particularly fond of so I own several examples. Apparently it’s a pattern that dates back to the 15th century and is symbolic of a past tradition of the joining of a male and female engagement ring called a “Gimmal Ring”. During the ceremony, the two bands are united as interlocking rings for the wife to wear.
Our community here at Mohaka River Farm embraces many types of craft including fibre-based crafts such as weaving, sewing and quilting. Two of our young people have gotten married in the last year and have been given beautiful quilts designed and quilted by the rest of us. If you flip up the corner of one of the quilts, you will find the names of all the many hands that contributed.
As part of the wedding experience here at the farm, we cater our offerings according to the couple’s vision. It is our hope that your wedding extends beyond a few hours of celebration. By layering several experiences over a number of days, we hope to facilitate your families and friends coming together in ways that either initiate or strengthen their relationships. Perhaps for you, it is simply the creation of beautiful memories that you deem the most important, such as a bonfire overlooking the river or a horse trek ending in a picnic. Other options include the collaborative creation of something beautiful, whether it is a woodworking workshop to create a coffee table or an heirloom rocking chair or a pottery sgraffito tea party resulting in a set of hand etched dessert plates for the couple.
