A Quilt for My Mom

If you've ever met my mom you know that she is nearly an impossible person to shop for...mainly because she does not even try to hide her dislike of a present that you bought for her.  I can remember being in 6th grade and picking out what I thought was a very nice shirt for a Mother's Day present.  I remember watching her open it and then hearing her say "Oh, I don't wear that material."  And there have been many other comments like that.

"Oh, that's not my color."
"Oh, I already have one of those."
"Oh, that doesn't match my furniture."

While it used to drive me crazy, I've made my peace with it (and now I always include a gift receipt with her presents).

On the upside, my mom is one of the only people in my family who truly appreciate handmade items.  I made my dad a pair of socks once and the first thing he said was "these are too big."  I knit my sister a dress for her new baby and four years later she found it at the bottom of some drawer.  My mom though looks at handmade items and calls them "works of art."  She can see all the work that goes into each cut, each stitch, each piece, and for that I love her.

That said, I've given up on buying her a "regular" Christmas present this year and I've decided to make her a quilt instead.  It was going to be a surprise but since she has definite likes and dislikes, I told her about my intentions last week and asked what colors she would like (I am NOT going to spend all this time working on a quilt only to have her tell me "Oh, that doesn't really go with anything in my house.")  So, in an attempt to be on the ball I've purchased all the fabric and have begun to work on the squares.

The many, many squares.

each one made with love

Here's to getting it done before Christmas!