A Quilted Love Story, Part I

This love story begins with a quilt.

Actually, this story started way back several generations with women in our family who love to make quilts.  That "quilting gene" is in my blood, and my triplet daughters are of the same stock.  The girls
made their first quilts at age 12.  In the 16 years since, they have each made over a dozen quilts - bed size, lap quilts, wall-hangings, table toppers, charity quilts and more.

Early last Spring (2017), my daughter Cissy saw a quilt on Pinterest called "Book Nerd".  It struck a chord because she is such an avid reader, and had been wanting to make a book quilt of some type.  We immediately downloaded the pattern online, and she selected scraps from my stash to begin making it. Then we found some fabric that resembled words to use for the paper-pieced pages - so cute!  She was excited to make it and the blocks came together so quickly, it took no time to finish.

Cissy quilted it on my Statler quilting machine, using different computerized motifs for each book cover.  She free-motion quilted the sashing and borders--the first quilt she had ever machine-quilted by herself!

She finished it just in time to hang in the local library for a guild quilt show.

As it happened, our mailman, Ben, who also delivers mail to the library on his route, spied this quilt on display.  He recognized her name, and at a church Single's activity, told her he liked quilts and wondered if she could help him to make one!  (Brilliant move, I say!)  She and her sister both agreed to help him make his quilt.

They started with a tied fleece blanket and taught him to use the rotary cutter.  Next, they helped him choose a good beginner quilt pattern, A Carpenter's Star, and went with him to the fabric store to select fabrics.

Ben began to come over every Wednesday night, and the girls would help him cut the pieces and sew the blocks together.  Cissy would sit right next to him at the machine to "help" him keep the seams straight.  (Wish I had pictures of that!)

After sewing for an hour or two, they'd all make dinner together and finish the night with a fun movie.  By the end of the summer, the quilt was finished and Ben and Cissy were holding hands!

When it came time for the county fair, Cissy entered her book quilt, Ben entered the Carpenter's Star, and they both won blue ribbons!

Meanwhile, Ben was on his way to winning Cissy's heart!

Stay tuned for Part II...