How it Began
My Nana made quilts for everyone special in her life. When I had my daughters, she was in her 90s and still gave them quilts as her baby gifts. When I say she had a love for quilting, I mean it like it was in her bones. She quilted her whole life. Family tradition is deeply rooted in my beginnings as a quilter. I think quilting has always been alive deep in my bones as well, but it really didn’t surface for me until I was an adult.
Covid hit after my Nana had already passed. A close family member of mine was pregnant and due during the pandemic, at the height of the initial lock down. I was home with the kids, trying to get them through the rest of the school year when everything initially shut down, and I bought an affordable sewing machine to originally make masks, when masks were sold out everywhere. I enjoyed sewing and my kids enjoyed watching me create. As the new baby in our family came due, the first baby since my girls were born, I had this sadness and grief that my Nana wasn’t here to gift them a quilt. I know that it was how she showed love and care, and I could almost feel her longing to wrap the new baby in a quilt. With a few weeks in on my basic little sewing machine, I made a promise to myself that I would learn how to quilt by making a baby quilt to give our family’s new little one in my Nana’s honor. I didn’t know if it would take me a few months or a year, but if you know me, then you know that once I decide to do something, I make it happen and go all in - for better, or for worse (I have many friends laughing right now reading this, because this is so true).
I started researching quilting, reading and watching video tutorials, and I quickly ran across Lo & Behold Stitchery. I immediately fell in love with every pattern and quilt Brittany made. I was really drawn to her pattern, “Vintage Lace.” It looked complicated, but it was the perfect mix of vintage and modern and I knew my grandmother would have loved it. That was the first quilt pattern I ever purchased. I didn’t even know how to read a quilt pattern at that point! Step by step, I looked up every word and phrase I didn’t know, and I slowly started building my quilting vocabulary and understanding. I purchased fabric and made my way through the pattern. My family cheered me on. It was a group effort.
Pattern is “Vintage Lace” by Lo & Behold Stitchery.
I took pictures of the finished quilt and posted them on my personal Instagram page with the caption below. I can’t describe what this quilt means to me in better words:
“You guys. This may seem like a cheesy post but seriously, this is one of the greatest things I’ve ever accomplished. When my girls were born, my grandmother, who was in her 90s, hand made quilts for both of them. The girls were able to meet her twice before she passed and we use her quilts all the time. I’ve always had a special bond with my grandmother. She taught me how to sew and embroider, but never had the chance to teach me how to quilt. She passed several years ago. In April, a close family member had their first baby. If my grandmother had still been here, she would have made them a quilt too. It’s tradition. Since she wasn’t here to do it, I made myself a promise that I would teach myself how to quilt and I would make one for the baby. It took me three and a half months to finish and here it is, ready to mail out. This quilt has saved me 100 times during this pandemic. I’ve cried with it, snuggled with it, and put hope and love into every stitch. I felt my grandma with me while I made it. This became SO much more than a quilt. I made a lot of mistakes but never gave up. Can’t wait to make quilts for everyone special in my life. I’m a quilter now. Thank you to @loandbeholdstitchery for such a beautiful pattern. I visited her website at least once a day to help me along.”
If you look closely, you’ll definitely see some mistakes and a few blocks turned the wrong way, but when I look at this imperfect quilt, all I see is love that will last a lifetime, and that my friends, is what makes a quilt so much more than a quilt.