Margaret Hubl, a Nebraska native, passed away a few years ago at 89-years-of-age. Though her loss was a hard one for everyone who knew her, she left a beautiful legacy behind. Not in terms of cash or an estate, but through quilts that she had made for her grandkids.

An inspired and gifted quilter, the grandma lovingly stitched together a unique quilt for each and every member of her family. While her grandkids knew that between them they had a lot of quilts, they really didn’t understand quite how many until they were all gathered together.

The grieving family wanted to do something extra special to honor the memory of their beloved grandma. When they got to talking about the quilts, they agreed it would be a nice way of remembering her and would make for a beautiful, if not large, display.

Each family member brought the quilts that the grandma had made them to the funeral service.

They decided to gently drape each of the quilts over the backside of the church pews for the funeral. What they ended up with was a massive display of an entire life filled with love, talent, and devotion.

With all of their grandma’s quilts hung over the backs of the pews, the full measure of her creativity was on dislplay. Her granddaughter, Christina Tollman, couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Never did I imagine how many there were. We covered almost every single pew in that church. I never knew how many she actually made,” she reveals in an interview with TODAY.

Beautiful as they all were, the quilts weren’t necessary to prove how much the grandma loved her family. Not only did Margaret and her husband, Henry Hubl, birth three deeply loved children of their own, but they also extended that love toward their less immediate family. The Hubl’s had taken in their niece and nephew when they were left orphaned in 1969 from a fatal car accident that killed their parents. The Hubl’s rasied all five kids with love and sheer devotion in their humble farmhouse.

That’s how Margaret became so adept with a needle and thread in the first place. She had started sewing more and more frequently as her family continued to grow.

Of course, as her children grew up and moved on to have families of their own, she was only more inspired to keep quilting. She wanted a hand in keeping all 13 of her grandbabies warm as well.

So, as time went on a tradition was formed where the grandma would gift quilts to each family member whenever they graduated or got married.

According to her granddaughter, Margaret made over 100 quilts to commemorate her family’s special occasions.

As the family was sorting through their late grandma’s belongings, they stumbled onto another precious memento; a list of names and dates for dispensing the quilted gifts.

“When we sat down to go through her things we found this — I call it a pocket notebook. Inside it says whose quilt she was working on, what day she put it in the quilt frame and which day she took it out,” she said.

Margaret worked on quilts for her family until the day she died, even leaving some behind that hadn’t made it to their destined owners yet. Her granddaughter said it was touching to see the surprise on those people’s faces when they learned they were in line for one of her granny’s famous quilts.

“I actually have three cousins that are not married, and the day of her funeral was the day that they got to see their quilts for the first time. That was really kind of a neat moment,” she recalls.

Margaret’s quilts filled the church with vibrant color, creativity, and cherished memories that day. Her quilts took a funeral and breathed life into it.

Stitched with pure love, Margaret’s quilts are the gift that keeps on giving.

They continue to warm the bodies and hearts of her loved ones, and help keep hundreds of their memories with her alive and strong.

“This is the love that Grandma made for each of us. This is what she made for each of us to wrap up in when we hurt. When we miss her,” her granddaughter concludes.

That, my friends, is truly the gift of a lifetime.

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Source: Spotlight