There is a long line of seamstresses and quilters on my Mom\u2019s side of the family.\u00a0 Only a generation ago it was a very important part of the culture and everyday life.\u00a0 Women created beautiful works of art that would be used on a daily basis and stood the test of time.\u00a0 The intricate fabric pieces measured, cut and sewn together.\u00a0 The completed top was then added to the middle and back layers and stretched out on a large wooden frame to be sewn together by hand.\u00a0 Daughters were taught at a young age to carry on the tradition.<\/p>\n
Most of the quilts today are finished on machines and this doesn\u2019t diminish their beauty but there is something about creating the designs by hand.\u00a0 I learned to quilt, along with my sister, at my Grandma\u2019s when I was about 7 or 8 years old.\u00a0 Three generations sitting around the frame in my Grandma\u2019s front room.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t fully understand the history that came before me at the time but I did know that it was something special and I did enjoy the experience.<\/p>\n
My Mom inherited a lot of my Grandma\u2019s projects and fabric when she passed away in 2003.\u00a0 They were packed away and over the years my Mom would go in and find something to start or finish.\u00a0 About 5 years ago she found a box with quilt pieces in it.\u00a0 A lot of pieces.\u00a0 More than enough for a Queen size quilt.\u00a0 She asked me the next time I was there if I would like the quilt.\u00a0 She would get the top ready \u2013 most of the pieces and blocks had to be sewn together.\u00a0 After that we would find a space to set up the family quilt frame that was made by my great grandfather for my great grandmother.\u00a0 We would all finish it together, three generations.\u00a0 The granddaughters were the perfect age to learn and she wanted to continue the tradition.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t quilted since I was a child and it isn\u2019t something that I would have ever thought to do again but I was excited to help, as was my daughter.\u00a0 Shortly after that, in June of 2009, she was diagnosed with cancer.\u00a0 Even with the diagnosis and everything that went with it she worked very hard and showed it off to whomever visited and the homecare workers.\u00a0 I believe this quilt helped to keep her going some days.\u00a0 She finished the top in the beginning of 2010 right before we nearly lost her several times and she spent 5 months off and on in the hospital.\u00a0 We moved her to a new apartment that May and made sure that the quilt was carefully packed and available for her, along with a few other projects.\u00a0 Sewing became so important to her at that time because her mobility was limited for most things and she wanted to pass on the skill to her granddaughters.\u00a0 She helped my daughter, who was 10 at the time, start a small baby blanket as well.<\/p>\n
During the summer and fall of 2010 I took her for wheelchair rides as often as possible around the town of Steinbach where she lived.\u00a0 On a few of those rides we went to the fabric store and one of them we picked up the batting and the flannel backing for the quilt.\u00a0 We were able to find the perfect match 40+ years after my Grandma had picked out the fabric for the top of the quilt.\u00a0 We must have been quite a sight going down the sidewalk that day.\u00a0 We folded up the backing and put it in the container with the rest of the quilt waiting for the perfect day to do the quilting.\u00a0 Mom decided that we should have a quilting party in the first few days of October.\u00a0 Her sister would be there along with my sister and her two daughters.\u00a0 On that Saturday morning I was getting ready to leave for my Mom\u2019s and the phone rang.\u00a0 It was Mom and she sounded upset.\u00a0 She hesitated and finally said, \u201cI hate to tell you this but I don\u2019t think we can quilt today.\u00a0 I have to go back into the hospital.\u00a0 I have been trying to phone you for the last hour but I just didn\u2019t want to disappoint you.\u00a0 I was really looking forward to this and I know you were too.\u201d\u00a0 I was disappointed but the worst part was that I knew we were missing our last chance.\u00a0 I knew it was over.<\/p>\n
She only stayed in the hospital 4 or 5 days that time but when she came home she had lost more mobility.\u00a0 About a week after she was home she said, \u201cI think you can put the quilt away.\u00a0 You will have to finish it another time without me.\u201d\u00a0 My heart broke because I knew that \u201cputting away the quilt\u201d was a symbol of so much more.\u00a0 She was acknowledging her fate.\u00a0 The quilt was put in the closet with reassurances that we would get it out for her if she wanted it.\u00a0 Soon after that we moved her hospital bed into the living room and began the 6 week vigil that came to a close on December 17th<\/sup>, 2010.<\/p>\n I took the quilt home and didn\u2019t know what to do with it.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have a quilt frame or the space to set it up.\u00a0 I really didn\u2019t know where to begin.\u00a0 A few years ago I found out that a friend of ours knew how to quilt.\u00a0 I hesitated asking for her help because it all just seemed too daunting and too much of an imposition.\u00a0 I finally asked Elle in the spring of 2013 if she would help me over the summer.\u00a0 She was kind enough to ask her Mom for a frame and offered her basement for a few months to do the most crucial parts on the big frame.\u00a0 We spent an entire Saturday in July of 2013 setting it up in her basement.\u00a0 Elle gave me a few lessons and pointers and helped me get started.\u00a0 I drove the hour to her place nearly every weekend last summer and early fall to get the long lines done to hold it all together.\u00a0 If Elle was home she helped me out as much as she could and on the final weekend spent hours with me getting it ready for me to take home.\u00a0 Those days in her basement were very special.\u00a0 My daughter came with me a few times and helped out. We had lots of time for visiting.\u00a0 There were also times where I was quilting alone and had time to reflect on good and bad times.\u00a0 It was therapeutic.\u00a0 I connected with my Mom and Grandma through the stitches and the fabric.\u00a0 I was carrying on the tradition and completing a 3 generation quilt.<\/p>\n I have been working on the 48 blocks for the last year on a lap frame.\u00a0 When I finish these last 2 blocks my friend, Elle, will finish the sides just in time for us to use this winter.\u00a0 I am not a natural quilter.\u00a0 I am not a seamstress.\u00a0 I have done this as a labor of love and tradition.\u00a0 I have struggled through it at times and just waited to be done.\u00a0 But now that I am so close I know I am going to miss it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want this chapter to end.\u00a0 But today is the day.\u00a0 This evening I will put the original pattern, block and pieces into a large poster frame to be displayed and preserved.<\/p>\n I have been asked many times if I will do another one.\u00a0 This is my first and last quilt.\u00a0 My Grandma and Mom did all the work.\u00a0 I\u2019m just finishing what they started doing the simplest part.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t have a clue how to start another one. I don\u2019t have the tools, nor the inclination to learn.\u00a0 For me this quilt is the finishing of something, not the start of a new hobby.\u00a0 As my husband will tell you, I have enough hobbies without starting any new ones. I am so grateful to Elle for providing me with the space, frame and lessons to get it going and my husband for understanding and respecting why I was and am doing this, even when I had to spend so much time away last summer.\u00a0 I am also grateful for the women who came before me.\u00a0 We take so much for granted that wouldn\u2019t be possible without them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is a long line of seamstresses and quilters on my Mom\u2019s side of the family.\u00a0 Only a generation ago it was a very important part of the culture and everyday life.\u00a0 Women created beautiful works of art that would … Continue reading