Category: church

First Date

Their first date was at a church gathering for an all-day-sing. 

They grew up in the same county, attended the same high school, but it was a long commute between their homes. Twelve miles represented a fortune in time and money – in the early 1930’s, times were tough.

So they wrote to each other.  And one heard about a sing that was going to be at High Hill Church, in a far corner of the county – some ten more miles from each of their homes.  But families took Sundays off and went to such gatherings.  They planned to meet up at the sing, and the courtship became official.

They married a couple of years after that sing and went on to live and prosper in that same county…the “til’ death” part lasted 52 years, all spent in Turner County.  Prosperity didn’t come quickly – there were hard times on the farm – but happiness and contentment flourished.  My sister and I benefited from two loving parents.

This art quilt I call First Date tells a story of their lives in Turner County and includes evidence of many memories.

I found a map of Turner County printed in the 1930’s in an antique store and transferred it to fabric.  The colors in it and in the photos of my parents from that era dictated the whole piece.  (And ya’ll know I lean toward browns….)

I made a legend for the map depicting the church where they had their first date with a heart shaped button.  Other beads and french knots show the location of their homes and church home.

I included do-dads from a milliner’s supplies (my mother was one of the last to give up the habit of wearing a hat to church), bits of tatting, lace, buttons.  

There are remnants of one of Daddy’s suits, a bit of lace from one of Mama’s dresses.

A fabric flower is made from barkcloth much like the living room drapes we had when I was a child.

I made this and mounted it on canvas several months ago.  I haven’t shared it before because I’m not quite happy with it on the canvas…I keep looking at it, wondering if it’s best that way.  I may add a frame or may remove it from the canvas and finish it more like a quilt.  But …here it is, as it is.

Update…since writing this post, I found a couple of relevant photos..

A photo of my parents shortly after their marriage in 1935.
A photo of High Hill Church made in the 1930’s shows how the church would have looked on the occasion of that first date. It also reveals how appropriate the name is.  In the flat terrain of Turner County (average elevation 407 feet), High Hill sits at a dizzying 420 feet above sea level.

New Hebron

After my latest post on quilts posed at New Hebron Baptist Church in Pike County, I thought you might like to see more photos of this beauty from the past. On an earlier visit, Jim captured images of the vicar and the interior of this church while I enjoyed memories of my childhood that this place triggered.

We visited this idyllic spot for the first time as part of the Slow Exposures Photography  Exhibition in 2019.  The organizers included a display of some of the photographs from the volume Historic Churches of Georgia.

A church that should be in the second edition of the book “Historic Rural Churches of Georgia,”  New Hebron Baptist Church near Concord, Georgia is an idyllic and picturesque place and is what you might expect when you first open your eyes in the afterlife. Thanks to Vicar Dwain Penn for the tour of New Hebron and his hospitality.

A church that should be in the second edition of the book Historic Rural Churches of Georgia,  New Hebron Baptist Church near Concord, Georgia is an idyllic and picturesque place and is what you might expect when you first open your eyes in the afterlife. Thanks to Vicar Dwain Penn for the tour of New Hebron and his hospitality.

Jim’s words from his facebook post about New Hebron

In my journal writing of that day I noted that Vicar Penn doesn’t call himself a pastor since he “has no sheep.”  He explained that the church has had no members for several years, and is therefore no longer affiliated with any denomination.  

At the time of our visit, services were conducted once a month, on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.  That allows people to attend their regular church and enjoy this spiritual place, too.

They sometimes host special events here, too.  Sacred Harp Singing Schools have been held in this church.  Oh, how I would love to hear those songs echoing off these unpainted timbers!

The church, built in 1908, was seen in the movies Cold Sassy Tree and Mama Flora’s Family, but most of the time, it’s maintaining its position in a bucolic scene on a quiet country road.

For more information, check out the entry on the Historic Rural Churches site https://www.hrcga.org/church/new-hebron-baptist/ .

And this article includes more of Vicar Penn’s story: http://www.thegospeler.org/ChurchBrochure.htm

Dots and Vines went along on this trip, too.  Here she poses on the back door of the church.  The story of this quilt is here: https://sandygilreath.com/dots-and-vines/