My Grandma Nellie always made us quilts and afghans and gifted them to us when we got married. I still have both of mine. I wish we would have kept some kind of record or journal of all the quilts and afghans that she made so that we could look back and see them all now. With eight children and 26 grandchildren that was a whole lot of sewing and crocheting.
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| The afghan that my grandma crocheted for me. |
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| The quilt that my grandma made for me. |
My mom made cross stitch quilts for all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. My mom had four children, nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren - so far. My mom started cross stitching these when she retired and made a baby quilt for each of her grandchildren as they were born and also for those that would some day be born. But she didn't stop there. She also made a quilt to give to each of her children to use in their homes when the grand babies came to visit. One year I gave my mom a quilting journal and we recorded each quilt that she made and who it was for and then included a picture of her holding the quilt. I only have these three photos from my computer files to share on here. The rest of the photos are in boxes in my closet, which I can't open, because we built my longarm in front of it in order to fit it into the room.
My mom would cross stitch the quilt and then we would shop for the backing fabric and then I would sew the backing on for her along with the binding and then she would tie the quilt. She also kept a written journal as she did the cross stitching of what was going on in the world at the time and what was going on in her life. She would put that along with a picture of her holding the quilt into an envelope and store it with the quilt until it was time to give it to one of her children or grandchildren. I remember being at one baby shower and the journal that she had written had recorded the events of 9-11 as she had stitched the quilt. Each journal for each quilt is different and records a bit of history from that time. They are really something to read!
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| My mom and her granddaughter at her baby shower opening up the quilt that she made for her. |
There are still some quilts that my mom made that have not been opened yet. I have two quilts wrapped in acid free tissue paper stored in my home. One is for my son when he has a baby and one is for me when he has a baby. I can't wait to read what my mom wrote in her journal as she stitched them all those years ago. My mom and dad are now both in Heaven. They taught us all about love just by being "in love" their whole lives. I remember my dad coming into the kitchen and hugging my mom up in a huge bear hug. He always did that. As a child it made me feel that everything was right in my world. This world is so different now without them. We miss them both very much! It will be very special when we open up my mom's quilts for my son when he has a baby someday and read what she wrote in her journals for us. What a beautiful way to send her love to us all!
Now that I'm quilting again I made my own quilting journal. I record each quilt and all the relevant information for each one. It's really for my personal use though, so that I can go back and see which thread worked and what batting and quilting ruler I used, things like that. My real quilting journal is this blog. From the first blog that I wrote here to each continuing one I mean to record all the quilts that I make. An online blog is a journal for this day and age and a way to record my quilting journey. I probably will never have much of a following on here but that's fine with me because I'm just hoping that someday when I'm gone that my family can look back through this blog and see all the quilts that I made and all the love that I stitched into my quilts.
Just like my grandma and my mom ...
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| The signature and date stitched onto the quilt that my mom made for the quilt that will go to my son someday. |
Pick up a needle and thread and quilt some love into your world❣️
