It had been folded in the cedar chest going on nineteen years. Navy blue with the little white flowers, short sleeves, the one she wore every fourth Sunday whether it was her turn on the usher board or not. I'd taken it out and put it back maybe six times over the years.

Tuesday I laid it on the table and got the scissors and my hands were not steady, I'll tell you that. But you can't make a memory quilt out of a folded-up dress. That's just a dress in a chest.

I only took the two sleeves. Left the body of it whole so it can still be a dress if anybody needs it to be, which I know doesn't make a bit of sense, but that's what I did.

The blue is going in the middle of the quilt for my niece's girl, the one graduating in May. Right up against a red that don't match it at all. Grandmama would've put them together without blinking.

Any of y'all got a piece of cloth in the house you can't bring yourself to cut? I surely understand it.