We traded in our cool, Fall Oregon temperatures for three days of...
...the rejuvinating, sunny, warm Arizona sunshine I grew up in.
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| Lake Mead, flying into Las Vegas, Nevada. |
Our days were filled with good food...
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| My mom's spagetti is ALWAYS my FAVORITE!!!!! Thanks mom. |
...the laughter of old friends getting together and reminiscing over times shared...
...and the love and joy of simply being with family.
I was especially reminded of what a legacy our quilts will leave as one of my mom's friends invited us to her home where she shared over 50 quilts made by her mother. I was so terribly inspired to find that each and every quilt was handquilted! Our friend explained with great pride in her voice how her mom used toothpicks to get the pucker of each and every one of these leaves:
I found myself awed by the love of each and every stitch and was reminded to not let myself get caught up in perfection of the outcome, but to enjoy the process of my quilting more.
I was also reminded as I watched our friend read the label of this quilt below...the importance of labeling our quilts. This small little, hand scribbed label, led her into a reminiscent account of her mother and grandmother. It was obvious she cherished her mother's handquilting and it was heartwarming to listen to her stories. It made me curious of what stories my quilts will leave behind??
I'm so glad to be a quilter! This next year I am going to make it a goal to hand quilt at least one quilt.
How about you? Do you still hand quilt? Sometimes? Never? Always?
Linking up with everyone else at Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday linky.
...and the love and joy of simply being with family.
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| Mom, Dad, Taylor and me. Nov. 2015 |
I found myself awed by the love of each and every stitch and was reminded to not let myself get caught up in perfection of the outcome, but to enjoy the process of my quilting more.
I was also reminded as I watched our friend read the label of this quilt below...the importance of labeling our quilts. This small little, hand scribbed label, led her into a reminiscent account of her mother and grandmother. It was obvious she cherished her mother's handquilting and it was heartwarming to listen to her stories. It made me curious of what stories my quilts will leave behind??
How about you? Do you still hand quilt? Sometimes? Never? Always?
Linking up with everyone else at Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday linky.
I hand quilt exclusively. To me there's just something about a hand quilted quilt that says love more, maybe because of hours and hours of painstakingly putting in all those stitches. I pray that my quilts will leave a legacy of love and warmth.
ReplyDeleteVal, its always great fun to get together with family! Great examples of hand quilting!
ReplyDeleteI still hand quilt - at least a few small projects each year. I do have a large quilt that is in progress - one of my travel teaching pieces.
ReplyDeleteLike you i want to hand quilt at least one this year. I bought a couple of quilting frames/hoops last year, but because of ill health they didn't get used, now that my health is rapidly improving I say this year I'll use both!
ReplyDeleteThose leaves are awesome! What fun to have her share these with you. A new perspective, for certain! I have arthritis in my hands, and it gets worse each year, so I doubt I will put a hand-quilted quilt on my To Do List. But I'll take pleasure in watching you progress with yours!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great visit you must have had looking at all those quilts! I still hand quilt and enjoy it the most but every now and then I machine quilt a couple to get them finished faster. Only the most special ones get hand quilted!
ReplyDeleteThat was great inspiration. The hand quilting on those leaves is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThat's some amazing effort. I've done a small amount of hand quilting, but only very basic and not a whole quilt. I think I would definitely like to hand quilt a whole quilt one day.
ReplyDeleteIn nice to see that people really do reminisce over handmade quilts; in this day and age, where you can by a cheap and beautiful blanket, quilt or doona cover, the stories and love that go into a hand made quilt are what makes quilts worth making.
What a wonderful feeling that must have been to be invited to a private quilt show with such a special collection of quilts! Hand quilting is my first love. But once I started machine quilting and saw that I could make more quilts quicker, I let hand quilting slide for the most part. I recently set aside a wall hanging to hand quilt and have decided that I really need to always have a hand quilting project around to work on in the evenings. It's so relaxing and much more social for me. I'll keep working at the machine, but I've made a new commitment to hand quilting.
ReplyDeleteWow! Beautiful hand quilting. As much as I'd like to, no hand quilting till I retire.
ReplyDeletehow good to have time with family and friends. Amazing quilt so beautifully hand quilted. I find machine quilting so very hard so either leave in the flimsy stage or hand quilt, but have bought some classes from craftsy yesterday on quilting with a walking foot so fingers crossed I will achieve some reasonably quilted quilts soon, will start on mini ones!
ReplyDeleteWonderful to have time with your family! Amazing quilts! I am so glad they are still in your friend's family.i love hand quilting , but don't do it as much any more.
ReplyDeleteso sweet Val
ReplyDeleteLeeAnna
Oh how nice it must have been to see all of those lovely vintage quilts. I hand quilt, yes :) Or tie, depending on quilt and where it is going :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post, glad you had a great time! I do not hand quilt, not. at. all! Yes, we should label every one of our quilts, you never know where they will be in 100 years.
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessing to have had this time with your family and friends. Thanks for sharing your visit and the photos of the hand quilted items. I have never done any hand quilting but would love to learn one day.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful, family time. And how sweet to see all those treasures. I do occasionally hand quilt. I have one more set of blocks my grandmother hand painted. Hopefully I will get to it soon.
ReplyDeleteThat's a treasure trove of quilts! Amazing that they were all hand quilted, and so wonderful to hear how the owner remembers her mother and grandmother in association with the quilts. It really does make you wonder what people will say in years to come when they're showing our quilts, doesn't it? I used to hand quilt everything, and it took me fooreeveeer! Now that I machine quilt, I can actually finish quilts fast enough to gift them, or just to have them for the fun of it!
ReplyDeleteI've never tried to hand quilt, but it is definitely on my list for next year.
ReplyDeleteI hope we all will have people to cherish our quilts and memories the way your Mom's friend does hers. It looks like you had the most marvelous of times with your folks - I'm so glad Val!