Why I Quilt

My quilting started in a roundabout way. My biggest sewing and quilting influence was my grandma, Hazel Millard. She sewed everything. She had a fancy brown Singer with all of the cams (I'm not sure where that sewing machine ended up).

My grandpa Ace and grandma Hazel, about mid-1960's.

Here's a few fun things about grandma:

• She LOVED turquoise. See the trim on the house? See the dress fabric? She also had a turquoise couch and walls of light turquoise.
• Those retro cotton prints (fancy coffee pots, cups and saucers in turquoise and brown) you see nowadays?  Those were grandma's kitchen curtains.
• She sewed her own clothes. There were few plus-sized stores to shop in. And, she didn't drive.
• Her house was small, but that didn't stop anyone from stopping over and filling up the house. There were times the grandkids had to crawl over each other in the living room to get to an unoccupied piece of carpet to sit on.
• One year grandma made all the men and boys in the family corduroy long-sleeved shirts for Christmas. All different colors. And with the scraps, she made a couple of baby-sized throws to use when babies visited her.

Corduroy throw; each square about 2.5 inches, randomly pieced.

• Grandma wanted to sell this throw in a yard sale one year. I told her I would buy it from her, but she said "why would you want that old thing?" "Because you made it grandma!" She gave it to me.   It needs a few repairs, but I love it.

Well-loved (and many time washed) little throw.

• Grandma gave me my first folding cardboard cutting board. I used it for years.

So grandma, thank you for the inspiration and encouragement for the life-long hobbies of sewing and quilting!