Mom’s String Quilt

Usually, the weeks leading up to Christmas are filled with the stress of trying to make a slew of  thoughtful, well-crafted gifts for friends and family. This year was different.  Instead, I focused on just one thoughtful handmade gift for my mom. Good ol’ Mom. Over the years I’ve spent countless hours making gifts for friends, friends’ children, and of course my own children, with very good intentions on making my mom a quilt “when I had time.”  Unfortunately, it took the passing of my father this past year to remind me that often, Time has its own plans.So, instead of the usual frenzy of last minute gift-making, I spent three weeks in December carving out time to make this one for Mom. I used the string quilt  tutorial from FITF and the paper piecing worked beautifully. My absolute favorite part of the quilt is that it uses just about every single piece of fabric I own, including scraps from previous projects. As I examined the piece afterwards, I could point out the fabrics that I used for jammies for the girls, the skirt that I made for Annabelle’s banana party, the apron that Charlotte wore as part of her Little Red Riding Hood costume, and many other sentimental projects (most of which were for my kids).  I love that the quilt has a bit of nostalgia built into it.

I encouraged my girls to help me as much as their little attentions spans could handle, and I was very pleased that they were each able to complete a square each. They picked out the fabrics, piece by piece, and alternated between “steering” the fabric and using the pedal to stitch their strips together. I was so happy to be able to present the quilt to my mom Christmas morning and I know that it is something she will cherish forever.

(Special thanks to the hubby for being my “quilt –holder” for pics.)