Welcome Back, Old Quilts

The family has started sorting through MIL's possessions, and I got back the three quilts I had made for her.

I think this is only the 2nd quilt I ever made, back in 2000. I hand quilted it. This was the quilt that taught me the importance of squaring up the pieces. I really struggled to get the parts sewn together and was so puzzled by that! (I finally learned about squaring up after this quilt was finished.) So I remember it being a frustrating process. Now looking at it, it seems not so bad, for all the struggles I remember having.

My in-laws lived in Florida at the time, and they liked using that first quilt on their laps when knees got cold while watching TV in the air conditioning. I was told they "fight over it" for knee-warming. Music to a quilter's ears, right?? So I made them another one in 2001. This is also hand-quilted. They now had a quilt for each set of knees.

Ten years later, 2011, my in-laws had moved back to Minnesota; I noticed their sofa was a burgundy color. I had these fabrics on hand and decided they would go well with their couch. So it got made in time for their 61st wedding anniversary. By that time I had stopped hand quilting and had a machine quilter who was my go-to helper, Diane. Either Diane or a friend of hers developed this quilting pattern specifically for this quilt. I felt kinda proud about that. Photos of this quilt appeared in her book of patterns that she showed her customers. The quilt lived on my in-laws couch until now, when they have both passed away, and the quilts cam back to me.

This quilt looks nice with one of our living room chairs. Last night my hubby took a nap under it. I was pleased about that, as he hasn't been much of a quilt-user over the years. Of course, when it's -30 degrees F. outside, anyone can appreciate snuggling under a quilt, I suppose.