I love having quilt scraps. I love making them into something that is meaningful. I have made several quilts and given them to special people and special times in their lives. This is probably the most memorable quilt top I have even made. It started out being a quilt for my Dad. Sorry Dad, just can't seem to part with this one.
If you have been following along with my blog from the beginning you already know that I stared my quilting adventure in WI as sorta a therapy for me. We loved at least nine hours from our kids and parents. We lived out in the country (which I loved) and we were bringing children into our lives thru foster care. Mark was working long hours and those hours somehow seemed longer with the LONG winters in WI. So I decided to teach myself to quilt. At night after everyone was sound asleep I would go to the basement and begin. Sometimes sewing until two or three in the morning. I had a lot of wonderful teachers (quilt shop ladies or anyone I could talk to about quilting that I could gain information from) and a wonderful neighbor that would help me when I was on a deadline crunch.
As I sit here at the kitchen table I can see scraps from the cowboys quilts that I made Michael, Trevor and Christopher...the oak leaf table runner and napkins I made for Cassie and Trevor for their first Christmas (their last name is Oakes)...the quilt I made for Teresa and Greg when brought Josiah home from Korea ...the linings of the wool purses I made for Cassie and Emmy...the flannel in Mark's big Star quilt...my first rag quilt...Christmas gifts for family and friends...my Mom's big Square Frames quilt that I now wrap up in...the first quilt I made for Sarah Beth when she was going thru chemo...pillow cases that I have made for the kids...pieces that I put in Yvonne's 'I'm Leaving WI' quilt...quilts that I made for a quilt give away to foster kids that they go to their first placement...and so many more. When I see quilts I see hours of standing at a table measuring and cutting, hours sitting at a machine, hours and burnt fingers from pressing each seam...but most of all I see lots of love and prayers that have gone into making them all. I am going to treasure this quilt top and maybe one day actually finish it by quilting and binding it. But until then I will make sure it is well taken care of. Quilts are so much more than something pretty to look at or wrap up in.
