Memory Monday posed as a Finish it up Friday.

Once upon a time, I was a little girl, living in Meridian, Idaho. My mom had a quilting frame (4 1x4's and some C clamps.) While She and Wendi tied a couple of quilts, Garen, Adam and I played under the quilt frame, in a fort. Finally the fort was too small to play under, so I helped finish tying the quilt and the boys went off to jump on beds or climbs door frames. I clearly remember those days. There were only a few of them, but from those moments, I knew I wanted to sew. I wanted to create. I wanted to quilt. I wanted to tie quilts.

Little did I know that my desire to quilt and obsession over sewing would turn somewhat OCD. I also could never imagine not tying a quilt. Now the thought of tying a quilt today, pains me a little.

I would like to introduce you to a plethora of photos.  Do you see this awful 'quilt top' featured below? I made this quilt about 24 years ago. I hadn't seen it for about 20 years, when Gina gave it to me while I was in Utah for Spencer's funeral. 

This quilt is sewn terribly and it is totally ugly. Also, it's made of cotton, polyester and knit. (Thank you Mom, for all your crappy fabric you inherited from your mom.)

 Here is a close up of some of my skills.

 See the whole at the top left corner of that hot pink fabric? nice.

 Monday night, I took the whole quilt top a part.

 Here are some photos of the blocks that were sewn together.

 In my defense, my Mom gave me all these blocks 'precut' (but not squared.)

A little side note about my mom...She was a framer. She could mass produce a lot of things in a short time, but was not one to pay attention to the little details.  Because of this personality, she could accomplish more in a 12 hour day that anyone I have ever met in my life. She was happy with 'good enough.'

A little side not about me...I am a finisher. I am not fast, but what I do, is meticulous. I want all my seams to line up,  I want things exactly like I want them. 

I remember asking her about the size of these blocks and she told me it didn't matter. Seams didn't have to line up and when the top was done it would keep me warm. That's the only point of a blanket...the perfect thought process of a framer.

  Half way through the squaring up process. Blocks measured between 5 and 8 inches square, rectangle, or other. I cut everything down to 5" square.

  This is pretty.

Here is my scrap pile.

 10x10x4 pile of scraps too small to preserve. Don't worry, I have a saved pile also.

 I had clothing made out of this purple and I think my mom had pants out of the orange.

  I had clothing out of the red.

 I think mom had clothing out of this peach.

 Here is the finished quilt top.

  basted. 

I chose to tie this quilt. It was made before I really started sewing and machine quilting was not even heard of. As I looked at the top, I couldn't imagine anything holding it together better than red acrylic yard. My mom's favorite color was red. My favorite color is red. I recently learned my grandma price loved red as well.

  

A preview of the tying.

I decided to bind the quilt in red as well.

 the following photos are the nonsense I will call, 'now show me the back.'

 Ahh. There is it. See that label in the bottom corner? That's the most important part of this whole project. 

When Gina gave me this quilt top, she made me promise I wouldn't take it apart. When I promised, I meant it. I just changed my mind later. It's kind of awesome that I broke that promise because if I hadn't, I would have ended up throwing away the quilt top or giving it to the DI or Goodwill.

My mom died almost 3 years ago. That quilt block has her handwriting on it. She had this annoying habit of writing on her fabric. As a kid it really bugged me. Boy am I glad she did that! Her writing is now preserved forever.

 I did not square up that block.

 I am so happy with the finished project. I think it's beautiful!

This post if linked up with cmq finish it up friday.