A family of quilts by Ruth Lord

This is an undated article that I'm assuming is from the Ipswich Chronicle. A few years ago, my parents gave scrapbooks of family pictures and news clippings to my brother and me; this was in mine. The cutline indicates that she's holding the first quilt she made in 1961. I will refrain from my need to edit and re-write this.

Into each of the quilts that Mrs. Ruth Lord of Fellows Road has created since 1961 she waves a tapestry of contemporary events for her children and grandchildren that will evoke memories in the years to come.

Mrs. Lord said she was baby-sitting for a newly adopted child who arrived at Christmas at an Argilla Road home where a beautiful antique quilt decorated one wall. "Every time I went there I would look at that quilt with its appliques and different kinds of stitches and little embroidered things, such as a hand of cards. So I came home and I thought maybe I could make one. As I went different places to babysit I would make a square and the children's names on it."

Along with them she put her first quilt events of the year. One square has a stork embroidered on it with the lettering "Gable 1961." That is the year Clark Gable's baby was born.

Another square includes a crutch, marking the fact that her husband, the late Gordon Lord, broke his foot. There is a donkey with the initials "J.F.K." to mark the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as President. Wedding bells on the quilt are for the wedding of her brother Harold and Cindy Bowen.

Children's names of the various families for whom she baby-sat are included with their brothers and sisters on one block for each family. "These are the Sylvesters," Mrs. Lord says of one square. She is related to the Sylvesters and recently attended the wedding of their daughter, Joanne. "Dianne was murdered," she says of the local family which has moved to Maine. {Jenn's note: I can just hear the dry tone of voice in which she off-handedly shared this information} Dianne, a brilliant young nurse in California, was brutally murdered several years back in her apartment.

"Here are the Gene Robies," says Ruth, indicating another square with the names of children. "There is Erik Smith and this one is Martha Hayes. Here are Happy, Kim, Whiz and Crispy Potter. This one says Beth, Rob and Dede Brown. This one is for Brooks Jansen. Let's see, the children in this one lived on Mill Road."

One of the squares has the earth sewn on it and "John Glenn." Mrs. Lord explains: "That is for the three times he went around the world." Sewn into the quilt is a satin design sent to her by her son, Kenneth. Anther square is from a colorful necktie which has a yellow background and big red maple leaves. "I bought it for him in Boston," she says.

Among the many small squares there is one which reads: "Dad 1961." This marks the death of her father in that year.

Her second quilt was started in 1962 and completed in 1964. It contains several black squares with white lettering: "Dallas assassination 1963," "General Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964," "Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962," "Pope John, 1881-1963," "Cape Cod, April 10, 1963, Thresher, 129 men," and "Patrick Kennedy, Aug. 7-9, 1963." The square about the Kennedy baby includes the White House with the lettering "depicting death over the President's home."

One of the patches is of the state of Alaska and shows a crack across part of it, a reminder of the severe earthquake of 1964. There is a patch with Greek lettering representing the fraternity her son Bruce joined at the University of Massachusetts. {Jenn's note: Dad joined Lambda Chi Alpha, and I totally need to see this quilt.} A red-white-and-blue square reads "John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963." There is a wedding patch marking the marriage of Bruce and his wife Linda in 1964.

"Here are the Bamford kids and these are the Stanton kids down the way," says Ruth. "I put my mother on this and later put the last part, 1965, in different thread to mark when she died."

The quilt includes a square for the Vostak III in 1962, first Russian space ship, another for the 1962 blockade of Cuba, and a square which marks the 50th anniversary of the Girl Scouts in 1962. There is also one for the Telestar when it was launched in 1962 and one which marks the death of Robert Frost, 1874-1963. A reminder of the New York newspaper strike of 1963 says "114 days."

Mrs. Lord calls her quilts "crazy patchwork." Her first two were given to her grand-daughters, Karen and Brenda Lord. Her tenth quilt is made up with autographs of friends and aquaintances. The next one will be made for a grandson and will be with a surprise motif.

For her son Paul and his wife she made a quilt filled with squares about their family life, including such things as the Girl Scouts and Auxiliary Fire Department.

Mrs. Lord's son Johnny is a bartender at Maxwell's at the Andover Inn and his wife was formerly a waitress. "I made their quilt with various wine and liquor labels," she said. "I had the kids looking around the street for cans and I would go through them to find different things to copy."

Her son Dean and his wife honeymooned in Spain, and their quilt has items from their wedding trip on various squares.

And son Bruce's is a different kind of theme marking special days.

When grandson Michael Lord was married, his quilt included his graduation, the wedding and later the baby. Ruth has also given special quilts to granddaughters Sarah, Cathy and Cindy, but has more to do.

Mrs. Lord leads a life filled with activities, from being a member of the Conservation Commission of the State Grange to being an active Golden Ager and one of the hostesses in the Historial Society's Heard House. She has also helped bring up several of her grandchildren and enjoys having them live in her house.

But with her beautiful quilts, she is leaving each one something special to remember her by.