By JANET TAGGART, guest columnist

I was not interested in quilting until 1980, when I saw a picture of a finished quilt on the page of a Family Circle magazine that said, “The quilt you make in seven hours.”

Since my husband was going on a two-week business trip, I thought this would be a good time to try my hand at making a quilt.

With family responsibilities and running errands, it took me three weeks to finish the quilt. I gave it to my daughter.

Whenever I see a quilt or comforter, I think of warmth and comfort.

During a family crisis, to keep my hands busy, I made a crazy quilt, sewing large patches together. I put the quilt together and tied it.

When my son went through a difficult divorce, I put old buttons and appliqued old material from each member of his family on Grandma Sara Rebecca Taggart’s old comforter. I then wrote on a pillowcase each family member’s name. I put the comforter inside the pillowcase and gave it to my son. This was a comfort to me as well as my son.

When our foster son told us he was having nightmares during a difficult time, I made him a one-piece quilt and told him when he covered up with it each night, to remember that God loved him and would protect him.

It took me about a year to applique hearts on 25 blocks for my granddaughter’s graduation. After I put the top together, I took it to Dorothy Dine in Brown County to have it machine-quilted. For our grandsons’ graduations, I made a quilt top; instead of hand-stitching, I tied it.

I enjoyed making a small quilt out of my mother’s and my husband’s mother’s old handkerchiefs.

I am not a pure quilter, but I do enjoy putting a quilt together. My favorite part is hand-stitching the binding.

I am not a perfectionist, but when I start a project, I am a driven woman.

When I decided to make a lap quilt for my two brothers and two sisters, believe me, I was a driven woman. I wanted to finish them in time for Christmas. When my husband came home from work, he found quilt tops and straight pins all over the floor and a woman who had not combed her hair all day. I did finish the quilts in time for Christmas.

My Granny Roberts was a quilter. As I recall, she kept her quilting frame upstairs. She made a quilt for each grandchild who graduated high school. I wish I would have taken an interest in quilting when Granny was alive. Granny Roberts was a character. She was the first woman recorder in Brown County, drove a school bus, raised a garden, milked cows and helped Grandpa in the fields. She was famous for her dumplings and yeast rolls.

My husband’s cousin, Jesse Talley, added to my interest in quilting when she gave one of her nine-patch quilt to the Brown County Historical Society. It was entered into the Brown County Quilt Show, then taken to the History Center. It is now on a quilt frame my husband’s family gave to the historical society. The quilting frame belonged to Emmett and Louisannabelle (Bright) Brown, my husband’s grandparents.

My husband Orion’s grandmother, Sara Rebecca Taggart, was also a quilter. After Grandma Taggart died, my husband’s father, Earl Taggart, inherited Grandma’s box of quilts. Earl offered each of his seven children a quilt. My husband chose one with the Irish Chain pattern.

I rescued a quilt top that no one wanted. It was musty smelling and in need of repair. I took it home and washed it and repaired torn patches. I was unsure of the pattern.

While researching quilting books in the Brown County Public Library, I found the pattern in the book, “Collector’s Dictionary of Quilt Names.” Under the pattern name of “Snail Trail” was Ladies Art Company 504.

I am fascinated by quilts that tell a story. The book, “Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt,” tells how the slaves appliqued a secret map on quilts to lead them to freedom.

In the devotional book “The Quilt of Life” is a collection of devotionals all centered on a quilting theme. At the end of each story is a poem called “God’s Pattern.” This is one of my favorites:

God knows how to fold the fabric

of our lives to expose

lovely qualities and blessings

we didn’t suspect were there

he reveals beautiful patterns

when we allow him to trim us.

Like an artist mixes colors to paint a picture, a quilter mixes pieces of fabric to form a quilt.

I am now in the process of hand-quilting Grandma Taggart’s Snail Trail pattern quilt top that I rescued from the rag bag.

While quilting, I allow my thoughts to wander. I wonder what was going on in Grandma’s life while putting her quilt top together. What year did she finish it? Why didn’t she finish quilting it?

These are questions that will never be answered, so I’ll just keep on quilting until I finish it.

Post-script: I finished Grandma Taggart’s quilt about 10 years ago. I made many mistakes, but I finished it.

Janet Taggart is a Brown County resident.