Quilting Bee, Or Lucky Me

I know I keep pushing the luck thing, but you know I have been especially lucky since my birthday.  Not only did I get a beautiful wife, but my wonderful mother gave me one of her freshly minted quilts.  I spent the last year seeing this quilt lay around in various stages and then to see it in a big bag with the word "birthday" printed on the side, I was dumbstruck.  I know the hours and thought that went into such a lovely creation.  I could describe the quilt, but a photo is truly worth a thousand words.

Birthday Quilt



The blocks of flowers set with the pinks is so lovely and sooooo my mother.  The oval printed fabric in with the pinks and the flowers sooooo not my mother.  She in not an abstract oval print person, but she told me this fabric just jumped out at her and she thought it would be a good contrast to the pinks.  I say, and you can quote me on this, mom was right.  The quilt is a stunner. 

My mom has been working on quilts for years. She is actually what she calls a topper. She loves the process of finding a pattern, picking out the fabric, tweaking the pattern, and doing all the piece work.  Once she has the top pieced she usually sends it out to be machine quilted.  I love watching her as she goes through the stages of putting together a quilt.  She can hand quilt, but says for her the magic is in the piecework.  I don't care how we get to the end product I just love the results. 

This quilt is the second one of her creation I have blogged about ( http://tempestinapot.blogspot.com/2009/11/day-twenty-seven-gratitude.html ).  To be the recipient of another quilt is as I have said before, humbling.  All the time, money, and labor to hand something so precious over to another is a gift which has no price tag. 

Mom's signature on the back

As much as I love the top of my quilt; my favorite part is on the back.  My mother has started to "sign" her quilts.  I love that she is so ingenious to put her unique hallmark on the back of something I will cherish for the rest of my life.