My Mom

My mom was always making something. there are lots of pictures of our younger selves where me and my siblings were wearing clothes that our mom had made. The left-over material could be found in the next quilt. There were discussions about who a quilt belonged to when it was finished. Whoever had more blocks made from material pieces of their clothes tended to have laid claim to the quilt.

I remember overhearing mom telling someone that, "the kids could all be outside playing but as soon as I set up the sewing machine, they would be right my me side."

Watching and helping her sew and quilt is how I learned. She would have the pieces cut into squares and rectangles. She would have us give her two pieces for her to sew together. Repeating this process till ready for the next step. Being scrap quilts, the 2-block piece were then joined to another 2-block piece. Our job was to make sure that none of those pieces match. In a scrap quilt, the goal is to not have the same pattern next to each other.

I remember helping mom set up the quilting frame. We would stretch out the backing, batting, and the quilt top that she had just finished. Some quilts were tacked or tied with yarn or crocheting thread. Other quilts were hand quilted. When mom passed away, I inherited several of her quilts.

The quilt that is currently on my bed (pictured) is a quilt she made.