Quilt Passion

I have gone through phases of craftiness in the past. For a while it was scrapbooking, then crocheting and knitting, back to scrapbooking and card making, and most recently, quilting and other sewing projects. My sewing and quilting obsession has become so great that my husband cleaned out a closet so that my machine and other sewing essentials would be handy. I can honestly say that my machine has not seen much of the inside of the closet. It has not been used as much as I would like, but having a 3 month old at home will do that to you I guess.

Thinking back to what started my love for quilts and other fabric crafts, I realized it was Mom-mom, my maternal grandmother. She had a whole room dedicated to sewing, and she is the one who helped me with my first quilt. During my elementary school years, I would spend a couple weeks every summer with them, and during one summer, she introduced me to quilts. Well, that's not 100% true. Mom-mom made me a quilt when I was born. A beautiful orange and green number with floating baby blocks. It seems to have been well loved, although I don't remember ever using it. At some point, it was put into the cedar chest, and it wasn't until I was pregnant with my first child that I saw it again.

Back to the summer quilt. It was during, what I like to call, my purple period. Everything had to be purple. My bedroom was purple, I wanted all purple clothes and of course, when I was asked what color I wanted this new quilt to be, I decided purple. Thinking about it now, purple is not a very practical color, but I can say that the purple quilt has brought me so much joy and comfort over the years, and quickly became very treasured. You see, Mom-mom died shortly after that quilt was made, and the year that quilt was made was the last year that I spend in Wisconsin with Mom-mom and Pop-pop.

A few years ago began my own quilting journey. My husband had just moved into the condo that I knew would be our home (when he finally married me). In all the excitement of him picking out room colors and furniture, I wanted something that was uniquely me, and frankly, I thought he needed a little feminine touch in the place. That's I decided that I wanted to make a quilt for what would become our bedroom. Paul picked out a beautiful shade of blue for the walls, and I knew we needed something warm to cover the bed. Remembering the summer project with Mom-mom, I thought, "This will be no problem, I can have this done for his birthday." This was February, his birthday is in August, the end of August, but still August. Paul picked a pattern, and we picked out fabric, then I started working. I really thought I would be able to get the quilt done by his birthday, but all I was able to accomplish was 5 blocks that we used for throw pillow covers. My next goal was to have it done by our anniversary in November, and that came and went. Finally, after 10 months of working, I was able to wrap it up and give it to him for Christmas. Perhaps a queen, almost king, sized quilt was not ideal for my first project, but I had lots of encouragement along the way, and kept remembering Mom-mom.

Since then I have also made a quilt for our son, and that didn't take nearly as long. Perhaps because it was crib-sized, perhaps it was because it was a much easier pattern, perhaps because I had the summer to work on it and could dedicate entire days, perhaps because I was 6 months pregnant and starting to nest. Regardless, it turned out beautiful, and I can only hope that he treasures it as much as I have treasured my quilts.

I have a few couple projects in the works. A baby quit for a friend who is expecting her first, and a surprise for a special person in my life. Pictures and updates will follow.