15 September 2008
Inspiration, Healing, Growing
My grandmother is the one person who inspired me to begin quilting and now I am hooked. She never used a rotary cutter, probably never even heard of a Fat Quarter. She Cut with a Scissors and ripped her strips. She tied all her quilts with yarn. She didn't have a fancy sewing machine or fancy tools. She probably never stepped foot in a Quilt Shop and bought most of her fabric at walmart because it was what she could afford. While some quilters couldn't even imagine not having those things and then mention of walmart makes them cringe, she did have the one thing we all have in common as quilters. She had a Passion for Quilting.
She loved making quilts and we loved receiving them. Growing up at a certain age we would all get a quilt from grandma, for me it was 14 for my golden birthday. When we got married we all were the most excited to open the gift from grandma because we knew it would be a new quilt, just the anticipation wondering what ours would look like, wondering what pattern did she chose for us, was so wonderful. It wasn't until my husband was deployed that I suddenly got an urge to make a quilt and I am so glad I did. I got the idea in September 2006, finished the quilt for my husband in Late October with the help of my grandmother, my mother and my son. I figured out rotary cutting all on my own, had to borrow a sewing machine to make it. With numerous trips to the stores and still no knowledge about quilt shops I got it done in time for my husbands return. But I wanted more. I found a pattern that was simple and small and began to cut it out. I didn't know a thing about bias or straight of grain just cut. It was to be a gift for my mother. Well with my husband home and my kids needing me it didn't get much attention from me until late Christmas Day. I suddenly got this need to work on it and I couldn't stop until i at least had the top done. I finished it about 5am. At 6am my mom picked me up to go after Christmas shopping and at 7am my husband called me and said that my mother and I needed to come home that very moment, not even to check out. ....I knew...he wouldn't tell me but I knew
She loved making quilts and we loved receiving them. Growing up at a certain age we would all get a quilt from grandma, for me it was 14 for my golden birthday. When we got married we all were the most excited to open the gift from grandma because we knew it would be a new quilt, just the anticipation wondering what ours would look like, wondering what pattern did she chose for us, was so wonderful. It wasn't until my husband was deployed that I suddenly got an urge to make a quilt and I am so glad I did. I got the idea in September 2006, finished the quilt for my husband in Late October with the help of my grandmother, my mother and my son. I figured out rotary cutting all on my own, had to borrow a sewing machine to make it. With numerous trips to the stores and still no knowledge about quilt shops I got it done in time for my husbands return. But I wanted more. I found a pattern that was simple and small and began to cut it out. I didn't know a thing about bias or straight of grain just cut. It was to be a gift for my mother. Well with my husband home and my kids needing me it didn't get much attention from me until late Christmas Day. I suddenly got this need to work on it and I couldn't stop until i at least had the top done. I finished it about 5am. At 6am my mom picked me up to go after Christmas shopping and at 7am my husband called me and said that my mother and I needed to come home that very moment, not even to check out. ....I knew...he wouldn't tell me but I knew
My grandmother had passed away within hours of me completing the top center of the quilt. To this day I still don't know why i got a sudden urge to work until i finished it. Its almost as if she was waiting for me to finish before she passed. The morning my grandmother passed, I had showed the completed top to my mom. She loved it but said she would rather i add to it and make a quilt instead of a wall hanging.
So after that it became hard for me to work on it to finish it because I felt for a long time if I finished it that I would be letting go and losing my grandma forever. I couldn't even sit down to sew. My husband bought me a sewing machine for Christmas and I couldn't even bring myself to take it out of the box. A year after her death I got it out and had added the borders. Then earlier this year at the Lakewood Sew In, I pinned my heart out. Then I got a chance to quilt with a Long Arm for the first time ever so I had to unpin the entire thing to get it on the machine. My mothers birthday was September 12th so I wanted to have it done on her birthday which after many many hours of trying to figure out binding for the very first time I am happy to say I am done.
Finally Finished, it was a long work in progress but it was also a time of healing and trying to let go. My grandmother had a heart of gold and has passed on to me a passion for quilting and my life will forever be blessed.
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