My "First" quilt(s)

Susan over at Ape over Quilting recently held a blog-give-away - sorry you missed it, as I missed it too. I just happened to find her blog a day or two too late. However, she had asked what our "first quilt" was... and for a photo and even though the contest is over, it still makes for a great prompt for a blog entry don't cha think? ;)

So it got me to thinking... and thinking... which is considered my first quilt? hummmmm -let's see....

First quilt? Now that is sorta complicated... For me there are several that were my "firsts" :)

The first quilt I ever RECEIVED As a GIFT: was from my grandmother, who I call Momma Newt. When I was born she gave this Dutch Doll Quilt to my mother as a special secret gift to me. She had made it when she was a little girl growing up using flour sacks for the background fabric and feed sacks for the dutch doll dresses. She didn't want any of the other Aunts/cousins to find out about it and feel like they missed out on something so special... but b/c she was already at the age of 69 the year I was born... she was so scared that she'd die before I ever got old enough to remember her, and since I was the youngest of 18 grand kids (the 17th grand kid was a preteen when I was born...)

Or what about the first quilt I ever made by myself... (which was a very large King size when I finished... I didn't know when to stop! LOL - but it made a great gift to my husband at that time my fiancee for his King size water bed.)

Oh, and then there's the first quilt I ever "hand quilted"...

and there's the first quilt I ever made from a class... I used homespuns and while it was a rather plain pattern, I didn't care, I just wanted to learn how to use sashings and keep the blocks straight with each other. :)

Oh, and of course there's the first mystery quilt I ever made... look how young Nora was then :)
and of course, let's not forget the first quilt I ever made for Charity...what a great feeling of acomplishment there is in making a quilt for charity!!!

and there's also the first BOM quilt I ever participated in... still isn't finished yet! Top is waiting the final piano key boarder...I think the last time I posted about it was in May of 2007 before the twins were born...

But the most special of FIRST Quilts... is the first quilt I can remember helping my mother make - that was from start to finish to be made for ME!

I loved helping my mother when she quilted. I sat on a stool on the opposite side of her machine and it was my job to cut apart the segments as she chain pieced.. and getting them paired up and lining them up read for her to run thru again... I learned how to finger press before I could count to 100. :c) She told me stories of how she use to work for "Fruit of the Loom" years before I was born and I pretended that we worked there together... she was the sew'er and I was her cutter and presser. :)

I have no idea just how many quilts we together turned out -as my mom gave all of her quilts away -wedding gifts, birthdays, anniversaries... babies... So this was a very memorable moment b/c from the time we started this quilt - it was for me!!! Talk about exciting!

Actually it was just meant to be a doll quilt that my mom suggested we make to use up some of her scraps and leftover blocks...

I was about 8 or 9 years old and my mom had some left over 4patch blocks... and was only gonna make it about 12" square.

I kept begging her to make it bigger... bigger than a blanket for my Barbie...

so we added some more blocks... and I said I need it bigger... for my Cabbage Patch doll...

so we again, added more blocks...

then after we looked at it once more, I begged her to make it bigger and insisted we go BIGGER... for my "one day, real live baby"

My mom was out of leftovers by this time, and really did not want to make more and suggested it was large enough..... but either I was super cute and polite as I persisted... or she was in a good mood... b/c she did in fact help me double it's current size so that it would be big enough to be a real "baby quilt for one day."

Oh, and I am forever so VERY GRATEFUL that my doll quilt grew and grew a little each time we looked at it.

Mom died of a brain tumor in 1999 just two years after I was married. She never got to meet my children, but I know that she sees them... and smiles like I do remembering the day we made that quilt together.

Love from Texas!