Quilted Christmas Love

Christmas is about Christ, but for me it is also about family. In fact, I have spent every one of my 44 Christmases with my parents, so it is natural that many of my Christmas memories and traditions involve my Mom and Dad. This year I will not be with my parents or my brothers on Christmas and that makes me sad. I am grateful I will still be with my own family and my sister's family on Christmas. I am also grateful that there will be many reminders of my mom. We'll carry on many of the traditions she started and we'll feel her love as we touch and snuggle with her beautiful quilted creations.

This is my most recent Christmas quilt from my mom.
She gave it to me for my birthday last year because she
knew I was going through a hard time.
I spent many hours wrapped up in it, feeling her love for me.

I think these are from 2008.
Mom used her embroidery machine to decorate these cute reindeer pillows.
I just wish I had the other 6 reindeer plus Rudolph!

I love this quilted table runner mom gave me a few years ago.
The fabrics have lots of gold in them. It is beautiful.

In 2005 My Mom, my sister-in-law and sister all decided to make this adorable "rag" quilt with a Christmas tree pattern. As I non-quilter I requested they make me one too, but my mom insisted that I pay for my own fabric and come to help with the non-quilting parts of the project. It was actually fun to lay out all the squares to find just the right pattern.

For years I begged my mom to make me a Christmas tree skirt.
She finally did and I love it. The fabric is rich and vibrant.
The next year I told her I really needed a bigger one so that you could see it better
even when all the presents were under the tree.
She just laughed and I never was able to convince her to make me my tree skirt 2.0

These are the oldest quilts; they are from my mom's "pre-quilting" days.
She sewed and made baby blankets for years,
but didn't really start quilting until after her kids left home.
When my boys were very young, she asked them what they wanted for Christmas. They said they wanted Christmas blankets like their baby blankets. Mom tried to get them to choose another gift, but they insisted so she tied these quilts and put on the great triangle edging.

Mom worried that when she made a quilt for one person, someone else might feel bad that they didn't get one. She probably wouldn't like me posting pictures of these quilts on my blog. (Sorry mom!) Every time my mom made something, she wished she could make enough for all of her friends and family. She never wanted anyone to feel slighted or left out, especially at Christmas time. So if you have a quilt made my my mom or even by another special person, please snuggle up and feel the LOVE!