A Quilt For The Quilter

 I think the very first homemade pieced (versus stamped, embroidered) quilt I ever had was made by my Mother-In-Law.  Waaayyyy back, more than 29 years ago now (this past week was the 30th anniversary of the night DH and I met), she gave me/us a quilt that she had made.

Since then, I've received a couple more quilts from her, as well as quilts from two other people, before I started quilting myself.  She has made quilts for each of my kids when they were little, when they graduated from high school, and when they got married (for the two that are married, that is).  She has also made quilts for other members of her family, as well as for family friends.  As far as I know, however, she hasn't made herself a quilt in a long, long time. And I don't think she's received a quilt from anyone else (afterall, she's a quilter, why would someone make her a quilt?) since her own mother got too old and gave up quilting.

At family Christmas in 2019, as I watched 4 members of our extended family unwrap quilts from her in varying sizes, I had an idea.  I would make a quilt for the quilter.  A lap quilt that Mother-In-Law could have for herself, because I knew that she would never think to make such a thing to keep.  Not only would I make her a lap quilt, I would make a lap quilt about her.

Using the books Farm Girl Vintage and Farm Girl Vintage 2, I made a list of blocks that represented facets of Mother-In-Law.  From that list, I made a preliminary sketch of a layout of the blocks into quilt, using both 12" blocks and 6" blocks.

An idea

I ended up changing a few of the 6" blocks that were traditional quilt patterns (meant to represent quilts that she's made for others), moved the row of chicks and eggs down closer to the hen block, and I adjusted colors on pretty much all the blocks to fit her.

A black and white cow to represent all the Holstein cattle she's worked with on the dairy farm.

A red tractor to represent her Farmall (little) A and (Big) H tractors

 

A pink pig, in the back of a black truck, 

for all the piglets she's hauled in that old truck

 and raised into pork for our freezers

Skeins of yarn and a crochet hook,

reminding us of all the afghans

 and baby clothes/blankets she's crocheted.

Hard to see, but the chick blocks have embroidered legs and eyes.

When my kids were little, there were always new spring chicks at her house.

Ta-Da!  A Quilt for The Quilter

The blocks, from upper left corner:

• the family cabin, in the blue my children remember (before a bunkroom addition was put on in the late 2000's and the cabin was re-sided in vinyl.
• Old Glory
• (Holstein) cow
• Sawtooth Star
• Pinwheels
• 9-Patch
• Churn Dash
• Maple Leaf
• Haystack
• Spools (of quilting thread!)
• Pickup with pig
• Yarn Skeins
• Chicks
• Eggs
• (More) Chicks
• Red Barn (in her backyard)
• Hen (For the 1-3 chickens she's always seemed to have)
• Tractor

I bordered the top in X's representative of the many cross stitched designs she's done on quilts and pillow cases for others. For the backing, a farm themed print fabric I found at Hobby Lobby last winter. For the binding, a red and white checked fabric (I think from Lori Holt's Farm Girl collection) from my local quilt shop this past summer that makes me think of plastic table cloths on picnic tables used by Mother-In-Law.

Backing and checkered binding

Due to Covid precautions, Mother-In-Law wanted to space out visits from each of her children this past Christmas. DH & I were finally able to get together with her last weekend, so it wasn't until Saturday that she received her quilt.

She loves it.  And, as DH was told in a phone call on Thursday evening, it works very well--she sat down in her chair Thursday afternoon 'for a minute', and ended up falling asleep under the quilt!!  I take that as a huge compliment.  A nap-inducing quilt is a cozy thing indeed.