The last time I took my wife to the Smokey Mountains, I bought her a hand sewn quilt that was made in a factory. We had gone to that area to enjoy a little nature and get out of the city for awhile. We had a great visit and on the way out of town we decided to stop at a local shop that had a lot of craft like items.

My wife has always loved quilts and I saw her eyes light up when she laid eyes on the quilt hanging from the wall. She asked the store clerk about the quilt, and she told me how nice it would match our bedroom at home. Sure the quilt was nice but I asked her if she didn't think maybe it was an unusual souvenir.

It didn't matter, she was going on about it lasting and didn't I think it was just lovely?

We asked the store clerk about the size and quills, and if she knew whether the quilts were hand made or factory made. All of the quilts there that day were handmade except for the one my wife was looking at.

At that point my wife told me she was ready to go. She looked disappointed. I asked why she didn't just get the one she liked anyhow. I was really confused, just a few minutes ago she was excited and going on and on about how beautiful it was but now she didn't want it.

As we started to head for the door, I asked what difference it made if it wasn't handmade, it wasn't a big deal and she could still get it. She said we could just buy another somewhere else. Then the store clerk must have heard us because she came running over and said to wait. We stopped and waited expecting her to leave to the back of the store to find another quilt. But the clerk came closer and told us we had misunderstood her. The quilt was handmade. The difference was the quilt was cut in a factory and women in town did all the stitches, they just did the assembling in the factory.

She explained how most homes around these parts have no electricity or sewing machines. So the women go to the factory and sew the quilts there. She told us we could tour the factory if we wanted, so we decided to drive up the hill to the factory. When we walked in the factory my wife's eyes brightened once again.

Sitting around in groups were women talking and laughing and sewing pieces of fabric together and others were quilting those together. My wife turned and smiled and we went right back to the store and bought her quilt.