Sew Cool

Mom's quilting frames had a semi-permanent residence in the living room as we grew up. Made of some incredibly hard wood, they had narrow strips of denim attached along each side of the frame. Quilt after quilt was pinned to those strips of denim, and for days--sometimes many, many days--my mother would sit and stitch. She quilted--mostly single-handedly--literally dozens of quilts. We girls would occasionally pull up a chair, but I'm sure we (at least I) never made much of a significant dent in the job. As we grew older, she quilted less and tied quilts more often. She gave away so many quilts to newlyweds and new babies. She was not interested in the piecing of quilts, but she loved the quilting.

Until my sister MaryLynn--anticipating a first grandchild--became interested in quilting, none of us girls had carried on this hobby of Mom's. Thanks to MaryLynn's coaching, and motivated by the beautiful lap quilts she has made in the last couple of years, I am a quilter. (Can I claim the title after only one quilt? Well, I did. I've said it. I have quilted, therefore I am a quilter.)

Below is my first pieced quilt, a nine-patch variation (I think?), based thematically on herbs. Why? Because herbs are wonderful, and green is a favorite color around here.

The above pillow was a little experiment. I want to make a quilt with 15 of the above star pattern, but I wasn't sure I was up to the task of piecing that pattern.  I tested it on a Christmas pillow. It's not perfect, but it gave me the confidence that I can do it. So, Winter Star quilt is in the line-up.

Below is a scrap quilt Krista made for her boyfriend for Christmas. Allison also made one. (Did we take a picture, Alli?)

Next, a "quick" little appliqued wall hanging. Hah, right. This project was fun for the first two days -- the applique part (Thanks, Maggie, for doing most of the zigzagging.) After that, not so fun. Sort of wore me out. Wasn't finished until after Christmas, so it's packed up with Christmas stuff. Maybe when I take it out in 11 months, it will make me happy and the painful work will be forgotten. Like happens with childbirth.

Below, Maggie took scraps and made this cute little pieced quilt/sleeping mat for her grimy, entitled Westie, who surely doesn't appreciate it enough, but Maggie doesn't care.

Next, not exactly quilting, but reflective of my renewed interest in sewing--aprons for my girls. Maggie and I picked the fabrics, then I sewed them over Christmas break while the kids were sleeping (any time before 11 a.m.). I used the scraps I had left to make a little apron for Maggie

Finally, the fabric for my next quilt. It somehow seems wrong to take so many perfectly good-sized pieces of fabric and cut them into dozens of 2 1/2 and 3 inch squares. But it's exciting to imagine how they will all come together...hopefully into a quilt that looks like a field of daisies and red poppies.

That's the new hobby. As I look back, despite all the hundreds and hundreds of hours she spent quilting, I don't think my mother ever used it as an excuse to skip cooking a single dinner. Well, I don't either. Because I gave up needing an excuse years ago!