christmas gift

Loving What I Do

Posted on by Tisha

If you have read the blog over the last few months you realize I do a ton of custom quilts for people.  Each has a unique story as to why they are being made and who they are for.  Had a customer ask me to make a quilt for her grandma for Christmas.  Please pull at my heart strings.

Christmas was my grandma’s favorite holiday and she demanded it was her day in our family.  This would be my first Christmas in years not spending with her.  She was with us in spirit.  We did have a crab and shrimp boil, her favorite.

Here is a photo of the completed Moda Double Chocolate quilt that I made.  I wanted to keep it simple and user friendly for the customer’s grandma.  My mom noted that the backing and binding should be in a dark fabric.  Good point.

double chocolate quilt 

The best part about gift quilts are the emails that come after someone has received them. 

“my Grandmother absolutely LOVES it. As soon as she got home from the Christmas Eve festivities, she immediately put it on her bed. She even cried when she opened her gift – it was that special to her. ”

Makes me smile to hear someone else got joy out of something I made.

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My First Quilt

Posted on by Tisha

My first quilt has been locked in a closet for the last couple of years…THANK God.  It’s terrible, the fabric shrank, it’s off, just an overall mess.  Thanks to my parents for loving it no matter my critiques.

I made this the Fall/Winter of 2000.  I was home from my freshmen year at IU for Thanksgiving and thought this would be a great gift for my parents.  I took my Gma to Wal-Mart with me to buy the fabric.  There was no pattern in mind, just wanted to make something.  Found some blues that would work for my parents room and started cutting.  No rotary cutter and ruler, just scissors and a 3″ square cut out from poster board.

To keep the quilt a secret from my parents I had to leave everything at my gmas.  Let’s just say I spent a lot time over there during that break.  On Christmas Eve I was to the point that I needed to bring the quilt top and sewing machine into my parents house to finish sewing.  Of course no one wanted to go to bed that night.  They all stayed up to watch a Christmas Movie until 11pm.  I gave up and took a nap and slept until they went to bed.

I ran outside, grabbed the machine, and set up my machine.  The quilt was finished around 3am, only because I ran out of binding.  It’s tacked with embroidery floss and not at every block.  It shrank after the first wash.  My parents were so happy with their gift.  They actually used the quilt on their bed for a few years.  Now it’s retired to a closet since they have updated their room.

 

Thanks Mom for busting it out for my feature.

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