Maybe it's the impending holiday season, the crisp Fall weather I woke up to
this morning, or a combination of the two...but I'm feeling very sentimental today :)
Since I started quilting 5 years ago, I've managed to rope my mother-in-law, and more recently, my future sister-in-law into the quilting world. We love having a hobby that we can all share together, and every so often we'll get together on a Saturday afternoon and having a Telschow women sewing party.
I feel very blessed, because it's a rare and special thing to share a passion with so many people in your family. Not only because it gives you something to talk about and do together, but also because it provides you with a support group. My mom, my mother-in-law, and my future sister-in-law all sew, and it's amazing having a group of women in my life who understand the technical aspects of what I'm doing, who can critique my designs and push me to be better, and who encourage me in my creative passions when I hit a rough patch.
As the years pass, I find myself looking forward to Christmas and birthdays more and more, because it's so much more fun and meaningful to give and receive handmade gifts from one another. After years and years of my mom making me handmade Halloween costumes, Easter dresses, quilts, and lunches with PB&J sandwiches cut into the shape of a heart, it's wonderful to be able to spend time on her and send her something I made with my own two hands - especially since I'm only able to make it up to Kentucky a few times a year to see my parents :(
So. In celebration of the women in my family, I'd like to share with y'all some photos I have of their beautiful handiwork :)
This is my future sister-in-law Katie's
very first quilt! Can you believe how good of a job she did?! - it looks a heckuva lot better than my first attempt, that's for sure! She bought a kit at a local quilt shop and my mother-in-law helped her put it together. I popped by her house the other day, and she was snuggled under it watching tv - so cute!
One of the local quilt shops sells a lot of New Orleans-themed fabric, so my mother-in-law Lana made this Saints quilt for her son's birthday (my brother-in-law). She can't wait to give it to him next week! There's a layer of fleece sandwiched in the middle instead of batting, so the thing is super warm. You could probably boil a kettle of water under it, lol! (which works out well, because both my hubby and his brother are polar bears and refuse to turn on the heat in the winter because they like sleeping in an ice cold house)
And this amazing quilt was my mom's wedding present to Ray and I almost 6 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long...time flies when you're having fun *wink*). She told me a while back that in order to find so many different coordinating prints, she drove over to Hancock's of Paducah and spent the better part of an afternoon there picking out fabric with an employee :)
It makes my brain hurt to think about sewing all of these curved pieces...
...and the real kicker? She did every bit of it on a 30 year old Bernina, with arthritis in both hands.
Yikes! Just look at how intricate her free motion is!!! Thanks mom :)
And bonus, look what arrived in the mail yesterday! My friend Kelly from
Kelby Sews is a total sweetheart! Neither of my local Joann's carried them, so she grabbed some of the Merry Main Street and 5 more yards of the Sugar Creek Floral print for me (after I used all mine in
this quilt).
And since I'm trying to be
extra good heading into the holidays, here is my "out" pile. All the prints you see below are now up for grabs in my Etsy shop. Use PLAIDSCOTTIE10 for 10% off.
