It had to have been fate or divine intervention that I was blessed with such great in-laws!
My side of the family is pretty resourceful when it comes to handmade items. My mother used to make doll furniture and many other things with lumber. She also quilted, made us clothes as kids, and was/is a tremendous baker. She, of course, passed all of her craftiness on to my sister and I (and even my brother has a touch - more on the woodworking and car repair side) so we continue to make lots of handmade items.
When I met my husband, I had no idea I would join another crafty family! His Aunt Sherie cans anything and gave us an awesome chili sauce. His Aunt Debbie is a scrapbooking queen and makes the best cards. His mother Tammy taught me how to knit. And, his Aunt Sue just passed on to me everything that you'll see below. She's also a great knitter and sewer and cook. This group of sisters even made their own family cookbook (which I love!).
So, I went to Aunt Sue's house tonight and came home with a HUGE stash of fabric. She gave me some really special pieces, including quilt blocks that her grandmother had sewn together from the girls' old clothes. She even gave me this little sewing suitcase of her grandmothers. (I haven't figured out how to get it open again yet, but I will some day - inside there are a bunch of completed blocks for a quilt Sue was making for one of her nieces. All I need to do is assemble it!)
Here's a pic of about 1/3 of the things she gave me:
The teal fabric on the left is all coordinating prints and solids for a quilt. She spent lots of time trying to find every color in the very back fabric so they could all coordinate. I love these colors (teal is my favorite!), so I'm really excited to do something with these fabrics!
Here's some closeups of the fabrics that really stood out to me as some of my favorites:
First I saw these...
Check out these quilt tops Aunt Sue already has put together. There are 3 small tops pretty much all done - some just need borders. She did a fantastic job on all of the applique work - something I've never had the guts to try. She had planned for this one (in the close up picture below) to be a present for her sister Sherie. She also gave me the buttons that are supposed to go in the center of the flowers. They are hand made clay buttons that will really add a nice touch to the quilt. I'm excited to finish this project for her so she can give it to her sister. It must have taken a long time to do all of the applique and the piecing.
Along with all of this, she also gave me batting for baby quilts/changing blankets, about a dozen quilting pattern books, and even more fabric (some bright colors that I'm going to save for a very special quilt project!).
As if that wasn't enough, she let me borrow her quilting sewing machine! That's right - the tag says BERNINA!
My side of the family is pretty resourceful when it comes to handmade items. My mother used to make doll furniture and many other things with lumber. She also quilted, made us clothes as kids, and was/is a tremendous baker. She, of course, passed all of her craftiness on to my sister and I (and even my brother has a touch - more on the woodworking and car repair side) so we continue to make lots of handmade items.
When I met my husband, I had no idea I would join another crafty family! His Aunt Sherie cans anything and gave us an awesome chili sauce. His Aunt Debbie is a scrapbooking queen and makes the best cards. His mother Tammy taught me how to knit. And, his Aunt Sue just passed on to me everything that you'll see below. She's also a great knitter and sewer and cook. This group of sisters even made their own family cookbook (which I love!).
So, I went to Aunt Sue's house tonight and came home with a HUGE stash of fabric. She gave me some really special pieces, including quilt blocks that her grandmother had sewn together from the girls' old clothes. She even gave me this little sewing suitcase of her grandmothers. (I haven't figured out how to get it open again yet, but I will some day - inside there are a bunch of completed blocks for a quilt Sue was making for one of her nieces. All I need to do is assemble it!)
Here's a pic of about 1/3 of the things she gave me:
The teal fabric on the left is all coordinating prints and solids for a quilt. She spent lots of time trying to find every color in the very back fabric so they could all coordinate. I love these colors (teal is my favorite!), so I'm really excited to do something with these fabrics!
Here's some closeups of the fabrics that really stood out to me as some of my favorites:
First I saw these...
Then I saw this one...
And then I fell in love with this one...
Check out these quilt tops Aunt Sue already has put together. There are 3 small tops pretty much all done - some just need borders. She did a fantastic job on all of the applique work - something I've never had the guts to try. She had planned for this one (in the close up picture below) to be a present for her sister Sherie. She also gave me the buttons that are supposed to go in the center of the flowers. They are hand made clay buttons that will really add a nice touch to the quilt. I'm excited to finish this project for her so she can give it to her sister. It must have taken a long time to do all of the applique and the piecing.
Along with all of this, she also gave me batting for baby quilts/changing blankets, about a dozen quilting pattern books, and even more fabric (some bright colors that I'm going to save for a very special quilt project!).
As if that wasn't enough, she let me borrow her quilting sewing machine! That's right - the tag says BERNINA!
I've never sewn on a machine this nice before. My husband did just buy me a great Janome machine that I LOVE (thanks hon!!!). My Janome has the perfect amount of bells and whistles for me. It was the best birthday present and I've had a wonderful time sewing with it so far. I know I'm going to use my Janome for a long time to come. What's great about this Bernina machine though, is that it's specifically made for quilting. It's waaaay more high-tech than anything that I would ever need to have, but it's going to be a real treat to try some new stitches and patterns with it! Not to mention that Aunt Sue also gave me the table that the machine sits in and all of the attachments, sewing feet, etc. It's going to be hard to get me out of my sewing room now!!
So, this weekend my mother and I are going to a quilt retreat in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. (What better way to celebrate Mother's Day???) So, I'm really excited to learn some FMQ techniques so I can put all of my new toys and fabric to good use! It's going to be a great summer! Happy Quilting!
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love your comments and questions. Feel free to drop me a line!!