Mount Holyoke Memories

During the four years that my granddaughter, Mariesa, was away at Mount Holyok e College in Massachusetts, I missed her so much it hurt. She was on the other side of the country while I was back home in California. However words cannot begin to explain how proud I was of her and all her accomplishments, both academic and athletic. She worked hard pursuing a degree in Biology while also being a two-sport student athlete playing field hockey and lacrosse. After graduating, she had over 30 t-shirts, sweatshirts and socks with the Mount Holyoke Lyons logo, lion's paw prints, inspirational quotes and more. Some articles of clothing had a record of the NCAA championship tournament she participated in as well as the places she went to to compete in. Some of these places included the New England states, New York, Florida and China. When she finally came home, she was going to throw out the old shirts and get on with her career as a personal trainer, but she hesitated because of all the wonderful memories and stories the shirts held. She even had one t-shirt that belonged to her best friend, who had sadly passed away in a horrific car accident. Mariesa couldn't throw away those memories.

She knows I can sew and asked me if I thought I could make a quilt for her out of the old shirts. It had been years since I had sewn, but as a young woman I made lots of clothes, including pajamas for my two small sons. But now at 77 years of age, I had never made a quilt, but I saw pictures of them; so, I thought I could do it. My old sewing machine is over 50 years old and the tension is all wrong, so I bought a used one and it works great. I washed all the shirts and bought myself a good pair of Fiskars scissors in March 2021. And since the Covid pandemic was unfortunately alive and well, I had to stay home anyway, so the challenge began. I started cutting the shirts and seeing how I could arrange the pieces in a good color combination and pleasing pattern. Of course, my granddaughter would from time to time check out how I was doing. The best part of this sewing project is that many of the pieces of t-shirts held a story of a place, person or event that happened at the games, team-bondings, team trips and more. I never attended any of her games because of the distance, but the memories she shared with me made it seem as if I was there for it all. It also gave us the opportunity to enjoy hours of conversation and spending time together. There is something so special in the love between a grandmother and her granddaughter. I am very blessed.

The layout of the blanket changed several times, and it was always a work in progress. It is not perfect in stiches and condition of the material, but the stories each piece holds, and the time spent together is the best. I have one old label from 1970 that has been in my old sewing box for 50 years and reads, "Custom Made Especially for you by Mary Lou Mazzone." What better way to use my last label than for my granddaughter to have it on her blanket. The blanket measures 60"X 68" and I used 24 shirts on the front side and the left over 9 shirt logos on the back side. Mount Holyoke's logo is a lion's paw and I was able to cut out the pattern on her socks and attach to other pieces. I also stenciled in paws with fabric paint on the back side for more color.

As of this writing, I am about 99.5 % done with the quilt. I will definitely finish tomorrow. I just have to spot stich down the filling, remove pins and snip off all the loose threads and its ready to keep her warm with her memories of Mount Holyoke College 2013-2017.