Mom's Quilts

Mother-in-law, not my mom. Anyway, I've mentioned this before and finally took some pictures and put them together for you. My MIL is an avid quilter and has been virtually all her life. She has a number of hand pieced tops that she works on - only in the winter. She says its too hot to do in the summer. All her work is hand pieced and hand quilted. She even puts the binding on by hand. She has a large hoop she work with in her lap. She does everything in white quilting thread. There was a brief discussion on SG a little bit ago about why she likely does this. And the experienced quilters agreed with her that it was the sturdiest thread to use - that dark colors sometimes didn't stand the test of time.

This one she calls "Widow's Trouble", though I've heard it called other names as well. She and her mother pieced it when she was around 13 or so. She quilted it much more recently, about 15 years ago. I think after my son was born. There was actually a little of a family fight over this one. I won when I quit. My SIL stayed to argue, I decided I was only an in-law and should keep my mouth shut. And the next Christmas, there is was. She said as a "thank you" for helping them out around the house, etc. Here is a little closer up of some the detail. These were taken with my older camera, so the photo's aren't quite the same quality as the more recent ones. It is backed with a matching yellow sheet. This is the one we had the thread discussion over. We (DH and I) thought she should quilt it in yellow on the black and black on the yellow. It's all done in white quilting thread.

This next one is one she did very recently (to my knowledge) for my son for his birthday last year. It may have been pieced before (some of the fabrics are very dated - see if you can find which ones). It's a simple bow-tie quilt, but I think it's really pretty with the bright colors. Again it is all hand stitched, including the binding. It is backed with a white sheet.

There are some more photo's of this one down the page. It is now on the guest bed (where I sleep) at my son's apartment.

Some close up detail of her stitching.

On the bed.

This one she and my Sister-in-law did when I was pregnant. SIL did the needlework and MIL quilted. My son still has this one, too. It's his, they made it for him.

It may have been from a kit, I'm not certain, though I am certain the quilting was done free hand.

This one has lost a lot of loft over the years. When it was new it was really fluffy, but that was 20 years ago.

And finally, this one she gave us for Christmas last year (2007). This, again, was all done by hand. She did the cross-stitching on it, as well. I'm not sure if it shows on this limited photo, but she missed a few places in the design. She's not as young as she used to be. The back is a white sheet and it is, of course, quilted in white thread.

The pillow is one I made years ago (oh, yeah, I do home dec - when I have to) and the mouse trap keeps the dog off the furniture - and looks nice, too.

I think she uses all poly batting, they're too light to be cotton and too fluffy when new. My son has one more, very simple one from a pre-stamped fabric - trains - that she quilted around. She did it when he was little for his "big boy bed". I didn't get a picture of it. Yeah, he gets all the quilts.

If you have any questions, I'll answer as best I can or ask her. I think she does incredible work. I don't have the patience for the piecing or quilting or the desire to drag that mass of fabric around. So I admire her all the more for doing this.

Thanks for looking.