Quilts, Quilts and more Quilts!!

Have you ever tried to explain the quilting process to someone who has no idea?  Hubby came into my sewing room today and saw that I was starting on a king sized quilt for my aunt.  Hubby's simple questions was:  "How do you get it put together?"  First, there was the explanation of picking the design, then figuring the pieces and how many is needed of each, and then how many strips to cut and the need for absolute accuracy at this point, 'cause there ain't no going back if you get it wrong!!   Then, his question was "but, how do you get them together"?  So, I took a couple of pieces and showed him how it was done (at least in theory for him).  And again the question, "but how do you get the blocks together?"  So I explained that to him.  And again the question, "but how do you sew the blocks together?" So, I took my quilt diagram and tried to explain how you sew blocks together to make rows and then sew rows together to make larger sections (if necessary) and then sew the larger sections together so that you handle the whole top as little as possible.    And then the question, "but what does the lady you take them to do with them?"   That entailed an explanation of the sandwiching of the layers and the quilting.  Since I have some pieces trimmed from the last two quilts, he is able to see what I'm talking about there.  He's not known for visualizing things -- he needs a picture!  

He's never wondered about my quilting this much before and I've been quilting for seven years, here in the same house.  Hmmm... what is on that boy's mind??     

 When I saw one of my aunts a couple of months ago, she asked "Would you make me a quilt?"     I was flattered tremendously and immediately said yes.   Then, she sweetly added "but it'll need to be king sized"!!!!!   I could have backed out I guess, but she's very dear to me, so I figured I could press on with this project.   She assured me that she expected to pay for it, but we'll see how much of it I allow her to pay.    I have only two aunts remaining, my mother's younger sisters.  One is 88 and I made this little lap quilt for her birthday back in February.  She has always made quilts (including one specifically for me using Hawaiian prints) and crocheted beautifully, so I figured it was time for somebody to make a quilt for her.  She was totally delighted when she opened the box and realized what it was.  

And here's a picture of the two sisters. 

This new quilt is the younger one (82 yrs old, in the black).  Both these ladies are very special to me.  Neither had children for years so I was their substitute child until I was about 13 or so.  Then they both adopted children and I got booted from my preferred status!!    However, up until then I spent lots of time with them, being spoiled rotten and being allowed to do things I never would have gotten away with at home!  


I delivered my brother's quilt to him yesterday, on his birthday.  He was thrilled and grinned ear to ear.  Here's the finished product and I'm sufficiently proud of it, mostly because he was so happy to receive it and appreciated the amount of work that went into making it.  (Its about queen sized.)

Projects like these keep me quilting. 


Y'all take care.