Reba McEntire - Comfort from a Country Quilt: Finding New Inspiration and Strength in Old-Fashioned Values

Can you just imagine the visiting, the stories, and the fellowship that have gone on during the making of all the wonderful quilts through the years? And can you imagine all the children who have been tucked in securely underneath them in their beds night after night? And us adults too?

Thats what you call comfort from a country quilt. I hope this book is as comforting to you as my mamas quilt has always been to me. Like a quilt, this book is made up of small pieces of materialsome of my favorite stories, memorable experiences, and more than a few opinionswritten, rather than sewn, from the stuff of my life. I have stitched these pieces together with my sincere hope that you will find this quilt of a book friendly, warm, and enjoyable, something you can turn to for comfort and entertainment and for sharing with friends and family.

REBA: MY STORY
by Reba McEntire
with Tom Carter

This edition contains the complete text of the original hardcover edition.
NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.

COMFORT FROM A COUNTRY QUILT

PUBLISHING HISTORY
Bantam hardcover edition published May 1999
Bantam trade paperback edition / May 2000

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to quote from I Know Ill Have a Better Day Tomorrow. Written by Reba McEntire. Copyright 1986 by Polygram International Publishing, Inc., and Reba McEntire Music.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

All rights reserved.
Copyright 1999 by Reba McEntire.
Cover photographs copyright Ron Davis.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-21644.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address: Bantam Books.

ISBN 978-0-553-38094-1
eBook ISBN: 978-0-8041-8119-8

Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words Bantam Books and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, New York, New York.

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I dedicate this book to those who love a good story, whether its funny, sad, educational, or just one to snuggle up with.

If you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans.

Minnie Pearl

H ave you ever made a quilt? I have. Its one of the most therapeutic and calming things Ive ever done. And I had a huge sense of accomplishment when I finished.

Both of my grandmothers made quilts, my mama did, and my aunt Jeannie did. I loved to open that big box at Christmastime knowing it was a quilt that one of them had made. I was so flattered that after all the time and energy they had spent on that quilt, they had selected me to receive it. Even as a young girl, I knew a quilt was a gift I would cherish always.

Back when I was living at home, I remember during the winter months Mama would set up her sewing machine in the living room over by the window. At night when wed all be in there watching TV after supper, Mama would be over at her sewing machine, making another quilt from the scraps left over from a dress or blouse she had made for one of us earlier.

Then, when she had all the squares sewn together, shed lay the batting on the living room floor, lay the quilted piece on top of that, and then start tacking it down. When that was completed, shed sew the border around it. Then it was finished. All that remained was for Mama to decide who would be the proud recipient of her precious handiwork which represented so many hours of love.

I feel very blessed to have received one of Mamas quilts. I sleep under it every night Im home. It doesnt match the fancy comforter we bought in Los Angeles, but it feels better than anything you can imagine. Just because I know my mama made it just for me.

When Daddys mother died in 1950, one year before my sister Alice was born, Mama got the trunk that held all of the quilts, china, crystal, silverware, and knickknacks that Grandma had collected during her lifetime. Mama discovered that Grandmas trunk also included a few quilt pieces that she had started but had never finished. My sister Susie eventually wound up with those quilt pieces and we all figured she would finish them out and keep them for herself.

But as only Susie would do, she cut the makings of the quilt into four squares, had them quilted, put a picture of Grandma McEntire and a description of the quilt together, and had them framed for Alices, my brother Pakes, and my Christmas present.

Thats how thoughtful Susie is. She could have kept the quilt for herself, but, instead, she shared with her brother and sisters something so special, which had belonged to a woman none of us had ever met. Thats part of Susies charm.

Thats also the charm of a quilt. Like a mother, it wraps its arms around youso soft, yet so sturdy, and so comforting. In my grandmas time the sewing of a quilt would bring friends and neighbors together, and in quilting circles today that lovely tradition continues. Now we live in a time when so many women do not even have a sewing machine in their home and when country quilts hang in the fanciest boutiques and galleries selling as decorative art. That would sure give my grandma and her circle a good laugh and more than a few shakes of the head.

Can you just imagine the visiting, the stories, and the fellowship that have gone on during the making of all the wonderful quilts through the years? And can you imagine all the children who have been tucked in securely underneath them in their beds night after night? And us adults too?

Thats what you call comfort from a country quilt. I hope this book is as comforting to you as my mamas quilt has always been to me. Like a quilt, this book is made up of small pieces of materialsome of my favorite stories, memorable experiences, and more than a few opinionswritten, rather than sewn, from the stuff of my life. I have stitched these pieces together with my sincere hope that you will find this quilt of a book friendly, warm, and enjoyable, something you can turn to for comfort and entertainment and for sharing with friends and family.

So grab your favorite quilt, wrap up, get comfortable, and enjoy.

From me to you.

Love,

W hen Loretta Lynn first sang Im proud to be a coal miners daughter, she created one of the simplest, boldest, most memorable statements anybody has ever made in any kind of music. Its very important for everyone to be proud of his or her heritage. Theres no question how Loretta feels about her heritage.