So many of you know my mom from various quilt groups and stores. She is an amazing, giving and very talented person. She blessed me with my love to sew early in life, teaching me to create clothes in mid to late grade school. It is a skill I used when my kids were little but as they got older and busier it didn’t fit. I even got rid of my sewing machine and all my notions.

My mom, however, didn’t let go that easily. When a quilt store opened in Cimarron she quickly picked up quilting. So much so in fact that she made quilts for every member of our family for years. Some years that would be 12+ quilts and more. When it got to be too much she didn’t stop. She just rotated between the various ages. Kids one year, grandkids one year. Then it switched to daughter/daughter-in-law one year, sons/son-in-law one year and then granddaughters and grandsons. When the greats started coming she made them quilts before they were born and every Christmas until she had a heart attack followed by a stroke.

Then out of the blue my daughter asked my mom to teach her to quilt, so one Christmas break years ago we spent the time making matching flannel snowmen quilts. It was my very first quilt and I was hooked. I remember clearly telling my mom, “I’m working on and purchasing fabric for one quilt at a time.” She laughed and said “We’ll see” (with her twinkle in her eye). I was adamant that I meant what I was saying but my mom knew and she was right as always. That lasted for one quilt and the stash collecting began.

I credit my mom for giving me the love of creating and am so thankful she taught me to have a giving heart that loves God. I also have a bit of my dad in me so having something I can work at as long as I wish is very important. That’s when I turned a hobby into a job and opened Honeycomb Quilts in late July 2016. The store was a place my mom and I spent a lot of time together. I can’t count the number of texts, calls and visits over quilts, fabric and patterns we have had. Time spent at the lake was spent sewing together, sometimes just her and I but sometimes three generations with my daughter joining in. Now my mom is helping her great granddaughter learn to sew and quilt.

What a legacy for our family. I have lost count on how many quilts my mom has made and given away but if you ask my dad their house if ‘taken over’ by quilts. Hahaha…probably the same thing every quilters spouse can say.

I’ve recently taken some time away from the store to be with my mom during a stay in the hospital and not surprisingly some of that time was spent designing a quilt and looking at various patterns and fabric. I love to see her eyes light up and hear her memories of quilts she has made. She has slowed down a bit but still has a quilt on the design wall that she is working on. It will be a treasured quilt from an amazing grandma that will be handed down for generations to come.

 

Does it get any better than hearing your granddaughter say, “Let’s sew grandma”? It’s like music to my ears hearing her little plea and this week we started a ‘real’ project. She has been sewing on my lap since she was born but this is her project. She is making a quilt for herself that we are going to put fluffy fabric (cuddle) on the back of.

I did the cutting as my granddaughter is only 4. Yes, I said 4. Maybe too young, but desire beyond her years. Our school colors are purple and white but they have added black to the uniform mix so we did too. I cut 6-1/2″ square of the 3 colors and let Hannah help me design the quilt on the wall. She quickly picked up on the pattern, explaining to me that the white squares go under the black, the white go under the purple and black squares go under the white. She beamed with enthusiasm as she placed each square.

As I started to pull her little sewing machine out of the box I caught a glimpse of a Janome on the shelf. I just upgraded and my smaller model was just sitting. I asked Hannah if she would like to use it? She very quickly responded that “It’s my sewing machine now. I have a real sewing machine!” Once again beaming from ear to ear. I explained where all the buttons are – the presser foot release, the start/stop, the speed, and of course the scissors. She drank it all in and asked if it was time to sew. We gathered up the first row and she proudly, but cautiously, sewed each seam. I pressed the row (but next time we will do it together.

Being 4, that was the extent of her attention span. So next time she comes we will work on another row, and another until it is ready for the longer machine. What a treasure spending time sharing and teaching a love of mine to the sweetest little girl in the world.

And then….her 5 year old brother entered the room. He quickly informed me that he wanted to make a real quilt too. So he went to the stash and picked his fabric and layer out his plan. A little evening up the edges by grandma and he was off and sewing. He decided he only needed 1 block so he is  “finished” with his project..

Oh the joys of being a grandma. I pray they will always love being creative and spending time with me.

Have a blessed week!

With all that has gone on in the world the last couple of years they seem to have just flown by. I can’t be the only one that feels like I never have enough time in my day to complete all my projects. I told my husband I feel like I am a juggler with 6-7 balls in the air. I am really good at keeping 5 in play but those last 1 or 2 just seem to slide. They vary on which I drop but I always seem to drop something. So my theme for 2022 is “Be Realistic”. I always take a couple weeks around Christmas. It is usually so cold that running the heater in our large store just doesn’t pay and I get to take some down time and set goals and get excited for the new year. This year I barely left my sewing room. It was a glorious two weeks of creating and letting go of all “have to’s”.

I started the time off with a t-shirt project for a Marine. I was going to say previous, but my husband is a Marine and “Once a Marine, always a Marine.” It required some creative blocks to complete and turned out being one of my favorite projects so far.

Second was to finish a project I started while having to take time off for gall bladder surgery. I was dreading all the tree blocks but decided to wing it and not go with the template and it turned out beautifully. It sparkles and shines and will be kitted this week for the store.

After such a detailed project with the trees I needed a little “mindless sewing” as my daughter calls it. I used a Pocket Pattern (we have an exclusive contract with the company) that utilizes strip piecing. It was fun, fast and made an adorable quilt.

Being the owner of a quilt store takes a lot of creating. Every time I get boxes from Moda, Riley Blake, Robert Kaufman and all the other companies it means it’s time to sew. I received the line Grace from Moda around Christmas so I took a charm pack and made a soft and sweet, quick baby quilt.

I also received the line “A Little Dr. Seuss” so I made a sample for my store. It is now available as kits in the store.

My final project of the week took some creating thinking. I love old hymns. I listen to them in my store every day on either piano or old country singers. They just bless my soul and make me happy. I have the line Songbook from Moda that features old hymns in pianos. I have been stumped over what to do with it but I finally came up with a design. I am doing my least favorite part now…writing the pattern so I can kit it. Here is a sneak preview of the design…watch for it this week in the store.

Now it’s Monday morning and I’m back to work. That means it’s longarming time on my two Gammills. Enjoy your week and I would love to see what all of you have been creating.

My grandson turned five (how can that be???) on February 26th and we decided to take the party on the road to my parents’ house. It was a great time filled with four generations of memories and laughter, which is a treasure in itself, but not the biggest treasure of the night.

My mom is a quilter and shared her passion with me and my daughter so it was no surprise that we found quilt books on the table to browse through. That led to a trip to her sewing room and that is where the treasure comes in. While looking around the room my eye caught a stack of finished quilts under the cutting table. Being a longarmer I quickly inquired why they had not made their way to my store to be quilted. I was not prepared for the answer. They were quilts made by my great grandmother. A true treasure.

I quickly retrieved the stack and with pure joy looked through the “find”. My great grandmother was born in 1892 and passed away in December of 1972 when I was 6 years old. I have amazing memories of her and was blessed with her China for a lasting memory. I also have two amazing quilts from her, one being a grandmothers flower garden (a honeycomb pattern). It hangs on my wall in the store.

On to my new treasures.

 

The fabrics are true vintage and the patterns are timeless. My favorite is the double wedding ring.

My daughter looked at the quilt and stated, “I was going to say those are 30’s reproduction prints but they are actually 30’s prints.”

My great grandmother was never afraid of color and these treasures show it.

 

I also adore this simple turquoise and white project.

Rounding out the family heirlooms is a colorful quilt that shows my great grandmother’s love of piecing.

She always hand quilted her quilts and hope she isn’t looking down on me with her stern look as I prepare them for the longarm. Hopefully she is smiling knowing how much this piece of history truly means to me.  More updates as I get them quilted.