Sew what.....

I have always loved sewing. I started when I was about eight. My first project was an apron, put together under the tutelage of my mother who sewed many of our clothes. My sisters and I learned to sew on a treadle sewing machine of my mothers. It had only had forward, reverse and no zig zag. It took a special skill to get the flywheel going, pumping the treadle to get everything going in the right direction. It was a very immersive sewing process. The only way we could finish off the seams was to fold them over and sew them down. 

When polyester fabric came in fashion, we were thrilled. No finishing off of seams. I sewed most of my clothes when I went to high school, getting together with my friend to cut out patterns and make plans for our projects. I also sewed my wedding dress on that machine.

When I got my first electric sewing machine, a Singer, after we were married, I was thrilled! No treadle, no sudden reversing because I wasn't paying attention. And so fast.

And....zig zag. I was thrilled..

One of my first projects after I got married, was a quilt for our bed. I remember ordering fabric from the Sears catalog so excited to get the different lengths in the mail. My mother in law was puzzled at this unnecessary frivolity. Buying fabric to make a quilt? I'm sure she was more than puzzled - probably horrified but she was far too kind to say so. Quilts were a reason to use old fabric, take apart old clothes and re-use them.

My husband often talks about how they would sit on a quilt their mother made, filled with old blankets used as batting, and look at the different pieces of fabric and remember whose dress this was, whose shirt. So many memories sewed into those quilts.

Memories of clothes she probably sewed herself. Necessity created a different focus on quilting. Reuse and repurpose.

But I wasn't that thrifty and it wasn't as much of a necessity. I have made a number of quilts, as well as most of the clothes my children wore until they didn't really want to and we could afford to buy ready-made. None of the quilts were made out of old fabric and none of the clothes as well.

And in December I started cutting and sewing the quilts for the granddaughters. Making pieces of fabric smaller, putting different pieces together and making them bigger. Like a puzzle. As I sewed, even though I used brand new fabric, I thought of the girls. I put a lot of love and care into each project. Sewed the blocks together, put some fuzzy, comfy fabric on the back, then bound them up. I hope they can feel that love when they wrap those cozy quilts around themselves. 

Of course, I have to show off my finished projects.....