My heritage means a lot to me. All four of my grandparents were born to homesteaders of Alberta. My great grandparents came here for more opportunities for their children. They all became closely connected to the earth, planting and animals (sheep and cows). Many became involved in local politics, entertaining and community building. The mainstay for them was farming. Growing, harvesting, and repeating that every year.
One day when I was working at the shop Grace, a talented and resourceful quilter came in with some hand embroidered blocks her sister-in-law had created. I fell in love with them. I called her up , ironically enough her and her husband share the same name as my parents, and asked if we could do a swap, me quilt for her and she do the embroidery. Sure enough we met and got everything arranged.
My intention was to make two quilts, one for each of my parents for Christmas 2015. My dad got a pillow that I made 2 hours before going to his house on Christmas Eve. So this year I do some trades with two quilting friends to make the quilts for me. I designed the quilts and they constructed them for me. Then I had the privilege of quilting them up and they both received them Christmas 2016.
One of the joys of quilting is to create something unique, a reflection of yourself, and give it to someone you love. I know that every time they look at the quilt, they snuggle with it or touch it, they know they are loved. These quilts gave me so much joy to create and give.
For my dad’s quilt I loved the combination of quilting I did. I used feathers in the borders and throughout the blocks. I think that it is important to select several quilting patterns and reuse them as you go throughout the quilt. This keeps the quilt consistent and balanced. I have included lots of pics so you can see the variety.
Love at the end of movies and they show bloopers. Well here is a pic of my son, very loyal 13 year old son, helping his mom climb up the very slippery hay bale. I am sure he didn’t really want to see his mom’s tush in his face!!
Just a bonus of being a quilter is the opportunity/challenge of showing off your creations. I am really enjoying these opportunities to do so with my kids, husband, sisters, brother-in-laws. It has been a lot of fun seeing their ideas and involvement. Moving to Vancouver island has a lot of great landscape and opportunities for new quilts. We did this photo shot right before Christmas dinner at my sisters place. I will always have fond memories of the year we climbed the crazy hay bales in the snow at dusk and both of us fell off.
I challenge you to get out and take pictures, involve friends and family, the adventures, the laughter and the memories are priceless.
One last pic, my daughter, the 12 year old trooper.
