I Quilt with the "Bessie" of Them

I am blessed to only have a part time job.  Thursdays are my Fridays.  My New Year's resolution was to spend the 6th day of the week with my mother.  She turned 84 in January.   Once a month we go to the "salon" and get our hair cut and mom's nails done.  On other Fridays we run errands.  We almost always go out to eat lunch.  Mom doesn't drive anymore and  I find that she really likes to do a little shopping and errand running without my dad.  The other day she said, "You know what I really miss?"  "I miss grocery shopping."  Now most of us probably consider grocery shopping a necessary, but not all that enjoyable task.   Mom is now relying on Dad to do all the shopping...and let's just say he doesn't always come back with what mom requested.  

Lately, we have been quilting. My job is to lay out, pin, iron and keep the machine threaded.  Mom does all the sewing.   Mom has pieced together quilts for 10 of her 11 children (John, Mom would really like to make you a quilt, too.) With all the other miscellaneous quilts she has done, mom counted 31 quilts total.  And now she is  trying to make one for each of the 25 grandchildren.  Usually, mom gifts a grandchild with their quilt on the occasion of his/her wedding.  But  with mom getting older and her eyesight and health failing a bit we are going to try to get a quilt top pieced for each of the remaining grands even if marriage is no where in site.  Last Friday we counted up how many more quilts she needs to make.  Thirteen is the magic number; 9 for grandsons and 4 for granddaughters.  It is a formidable goal.  If she keeps the quilts simple with large squares and makes them full sized instead of queen, I have hope that  my mom could leave a quilt as a reminder of her love for each of the members in her family.

Mom has even inspired me to try to make a quilt on my own.  Last night I cut out the blocks for a baby's quilt.  I am excited to dust off my sewing machine and put the pieces together.  My plan is to hand-quilt the blankie so I figure I'd better get started now.  July will be here before I know it.

  

My mom, Bessie Nell

My mom hard at work on Darcy's quilt.