Amanda Brekke turned 75 this week — nothing remarkable about that. Hers is a quiet story, a scrap of a story. From scraps stitched together decades ago by her grandmother, a piece of Brekke’s life is now complete.
When she opens her Marysville home Sunday to family and friends for a belated birthday party, Brekke might not be the center of attention. That honor may go to a quilt.
"For Sunday, I’m thinking of hanging it on a wall. After that it will be on a quilt rack in my living room," said Brekke, whose birthday was Thursday. "It makes me feel so close to the whole family."
The quilt had its beginnings a half-century ago, when Laura Lucy Eckard, Brekke’s grandmother, began stitching together 2-inch pieces of fabric.
"She lived in Pennsylvania, way out in the country. I had been there when I was a child," Brekke recalled. Her father’s mother died in the early 1960s when she was in her 90s.
A tiny woman, Eckard made quilts "for each grandchild in my father’s family," Brekke said. The one handed down to Brekke was only the beginnings of a quilt.
"She got the quilt top made, but didn’t get it quilted," Brekke said. It needed a backing and a border, but was nevertheless an heirloom kept through the years.
"I had it in gift box in my closet," she said. It’s now complete and out of the closet, thanks to the next generation.
Brekke’s niece, Pat Mitchell, works at Arlington Fabric store.
"I knew nothing about quilting, but my niece does," Brekke said. Some time ago, she asked Mitchell how much it would cost to finish the quilt. Her niece, according to Brekke, replied, "Oh, Aunt Mandy, it won’t cost anything except backing material."
Mitchell not only finished the quilt, but working with a needle on and off for more than a year, she hand-quilted it.
"It’s what they call a Bethlehem star or a Texas star. It radiates from rings at the center out to points. Stitches average 12 to an inch," Mitchell said, describing the 72-inch square quilt. "The back is cream, same as the background fabric on the front."
Decorative pieces are pink, yellow, blue and green, and Mitchell added a green border.
"I understand she (Eckard) made one for my uncle, one for my mom, and she made tops for the rest of them," Mitchell said.
Brekke’s brother, Eli, is deceased, but five sisters will be together Sunday.
Laura Lucy Mitchell and Grace Wendt arrived this week from South Dakota. Brekke’s other two sisters won’t have far to travel. Marge Baldwin lives in a Marysville retirement home and Nina Allen lives in Seattle.
The sisters were last together about a year ago. When Mitchell said she’d have the quilt finished for Brekke’s birthday, it was good reason for another reunion.
Family has stitched her life together as far back as she can remember.
"When we were very young, we had one bedroom for everybody. We shared, we were very poor," said Brekke, whose mother died when she was 10.
She moved with her father from Pennsylvania to South Dakota, and then to Seattle during World War II.
Like so many of her generation, she’s seen much hardship. Her first husband died at 30, leaving her to raise three sons. She remarried, but lost her second husband when he was 53.
"I had to work. It was hard. But I have lots of memories. I had a wonderful time," she said.
She’s still having a wonderful time. In October, she and a friend flew to Las Vegas, rented a car and visited the Grand Canyon. Brekke bowls and plays golf.
She has carried on her grandmother’s tradition by crocheting afghans for her grandchildren’s wedding gifts. "I’ve made four of them, I have two more to go," she said.
"I’m happy and still healthy," she said. At 75, her advice is simple: "Be sure you have hobbies, and always have a positive attitude."
She likens life to the colorful pieces on the quilt.
"I should find a ghost writer to write my story — at least tell the good parts."
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