Mother and quilting
My mother was an excellent seamstress; when my sister and I were little, Mom made all our clothes, and even made a few shirts and shorts for my brother. In addition, her clothes were beautifully designed and handmade. She also found time to create beautiful quilts. After her death, we were delighted to find several quilt tops that she had made but never completed the quilting.
Plans were made
Several months ago, my sister-in-law brought me a quilt top that needed to be finished. It was to be a surprise quilt for my brother. I was delighted to be able to work on this and quickly added her to my list of customers. I began working on this quilt in late January. It is a star design – not sure of the actual name – and much of the piecing was done by hand. Beautiful, tiny stitches. I felt quite honored to be allowed to add the quilting and thought of Mom many times as I quilted along.
Design
Since the fabric and thread were older, I did not want to risk stretching them and making any tears. So rather that do all free-motion, I chose a lovely, computerized pattern for my longarm machine. It has small stars and loops and accents the design of the quilt. I did quilt the borders as a free-motion design. In keeping with the yellow and red color scheme, the edge binding is a shade of yellow and the backing is a fabric of deep gold with yellow accents. I printed photos of my parents on fabric-printing sheets and added these to the back label of the quilt.
Presenting the quilt
The timing of my quilting has worked out perfectly and my surprise quilt for my brother was completed. I finished it mid-February and my sister-in-law decided to save it for my brother’s birthday which was February 28. They phoned me the night of his birthday. Needless to say, Mike was thrilled. He already was snuggled under it in his living room.
