Savvy Entertaining

When I was working on the back cover art for a recent romance novel I published, I wanted to use a quilt because one of the main characters owned a quilt shop. Quilts were also mentioned throughout the story.

I didn’t have to look far to find quilts to photograph. I am the happy owner of several.

The one I used on the book cover is pictured above. It was a wedding gift from friends of my most wonderful mother-in-law. In a traditional wedding ring pattern, the colors are bright and cheery.

While I was trying to decide which quilt to use for the book, I dug out several.

This beauty Captain Cavedweller’s Grandma Nell made for us one year for Christmas. She knows how I love roses so.

Especially pink roses. The stitching on this is incredible.

This is the quilt my Grandma Ila made for our wedding. She let me pick the pattern and the colors then she and my mom pieced and quilted it.

There was a lot of piecing and a lot of quilting and a lot of love that went into this Rose of Sharon variation quilt.

My Grandma Ila also made this quilt for me when I was a little girl. It graced my little twin-sized bed in my very pink bedroom for years and years. The pattern is Parasol Lady.

My Grandma Elsie started this Tulip Basket quilt for my mom back when she was a teen. Mom told Grandma she didn’t like the colors, so Grandma never finished the quilt. One day we were at Grandma’s helping her clean and found a bag with the quilt blocks. Grandma gave them to me, so Mom put the top together and quilted it. When she get all done, she couldn’t remember why she thought it was ugly in the first place.

The blocks for this quilt came from CC’s Grandma Nell. Her mother made the squares and no one ever finished the quilt. She gave them to me and when we needed one more block to make the quilt work, Mom did the one with the pink rose (pictured top left of the above photo). Mom sewed the top, then did all the quilting.  I should mention that Mom and Grandma did their quilting by hand. No fancy machines for them. I remember seeing a quilt frame stretched across our entire living room on many occasions. In later years, Mom would quilt using a big hoop instead of the frame.

Unfortunately, with all the talented quilters I’ve known, the gene and talent completely escaped me. I can sew – but quilting is beyond my patience and skill. That doesn’t, however, keep me from having one (or three) storage tubs full of fabric I hope to someday make into quilts. I’ll just have to hire someone to do the quilting.

This is a quilt my beloved Aunt Robbie gave me that her mother-in-law made. Love the vintage fabrics and colors in this one.

Aunt Robbie also gave me this one her mother-in-law made. Classic Wedding Ring, it again has great vintage fabrics and blends of bright colors.

I bought this quilt. It’s called Rose Rhapsody by Glynda Turley. I loved the colors, the flowers, the pattern and it is right now on the bed in our guestroom.

I love to look at the quilts and think of all the love, detail and skill that went into making them.

She Who Is a Very Lucky Girl

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