I Was the Brains, Mom Was the Labor

by Talia
(Seattle, WA, USA)

This quilt was made by my mother and I, probably when I was around 5th-6th grade.

We had taken a family vacation over spring break. We’d spent some time camping in the Midwest where there were lots of Amish settlements.

The food was delicious—pies and canned goods, produce, and preserves.

One of the farms we visited also had plenty of quilts on display. I noticed that there were fabric scrap packs, containing small amounts of end fabric. I picked one out. Then I did a lot of convincing, until she finally agreed that we would make a quilt.

My sister picked a set out as well, though she was not as enthusiastic about it.

The fabric sat around for a while, and then I finally convinced Mom to go for it. We had to make a couple shopping trips to find other fabrics to frame and back the quilt. The design was all me, but my mom went slowly with it.

The center panels took shape first, and then we argued about how to arrange them into a greater whole.

I’m not sure how many quilts my mom had done before, but I remember her being very particular about the seams—and still having trouble getting them straight!

I didn't do that much actual work, a bit of running seams on the machine, but I was definitely the brains of the operation!

Mom finished the quilt by stitching patterns over it to hold the front and back together. I remember her sitting and quilting at soccer games, during family movie nights, everything, until it was finally finished.

It’s been on my bed ever since, a nice lap quilt for cool evenings.

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