Generations Sewing and Quilting

My Dad entered my Mom's quilt into the 2012 Western Washington Fair (The Puyallup Fair) in Puyallup, WA.  The quilt was placed in the "group category-- large quilt" because both Mom and I worked on it.  The two ribbons won  were "First Place" and "Best in Class", plus the participation ribbon (see above).

Three generations in the profile picture, my Dad, my granddaughter and me.

Sewing has always been a part of my life; and for the last 18 years quilting has taken over my life. My grandma sewed and knitted.My mom designed and made my school clothing. She was very good at this. I would go with her to a store to try on outfits I liked. She drew the style in her notebook.  Then a trip to the fabric store to find a pattern and fabric that closely resembled the clothing I liked; Mom would sew the outfits I needed for school. Mom got involved in quilting after her four children were graduated from high school.

My Mom completed many quilts over a span of 30 plus years. Every one of her grandchildren had at least one quilt my Mom had pieced and quilted. Mom passed away in 2008. Between the time she passed away and her memorial service a week later, I finished the quilt that Mom was working on the day she passed away.  The quilt was for my sister's first grandchild who was due to be born in a short time.

A few years later, my Dad asked me to complete the quilts that Mom had started but not finished.  There were 5 pieced tops that were not quilted.  In some cases, Mom had set aside the backing for these quilts. Some needed additional borders added, which I did buy fabric for and add.  A long-arm quilter completed her step; and I sewed on the binding by machine and finished by hand-sewing.  One additional quilt was done with the method of quilt-as-you-go. Three sections were complete with her machine quilting done.  The fourth section was complete with her machine quilting done, but had not been added to the other three sections. It was my job to add this last section to the quilt and machine quilt on my sewing machine to match what my Mom had done.  I held my breath, copied Mom's work with my sewing machines' stitching to sew the edges together, then turn under and hand-stitched the overlap on the back. The quilting needed to be completed as Mom had done. I did my best to replicate her stitching. And it won ribbons...in the fair last year!