Good Morning, Quilters!
Thank you all so much for your kind words of condolence. It was heart-warming to hear about your mothers too! I feel like so many of you–that she is always with me now–especially when I quilt!
Rusty and Distracted
Easing back into a creative routine has been challenging. I picked up a quilt sandwich and was surprised to see how difficult it was to FMQ! I felt clunky and uncoordinated and couldn’t develop any rhythm. Over the next several days, I stitched aimlessly on quilt sandwiches, letting my mind wander and pretty soon I got in a “groove” again! Whew!
The Comfort of Quilting
Quilting can be therapeutic. How many of us have used quilting to keeps our hands busy through tough times!? I imagine pioneer women stitching away as they worried about their children and families, the weather, food…
Of course, it’s no different today!
The Comfort of Process
While the quilts are lovely, it’s the process that is the most comforting! I love to hear the sound of my sewing machine, feel the fabrics, enjoy their faint scent…
Small things–great joy!
What about YOU?
Have YOU ever stitched away your troubles?
Have YOU ever lost your creative fervor? How did YOU get it back?
Do YOU enjoy the process of quilting as much as the end result?
Do YOU have a “quilting angel”?
We’d LOVE to hear!
Again, thank YOU for all your support!
Lori
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts at The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thanks!
45 comments
Marta
My quilting came late in my sewing life.. 7 years ago. at age 69. Now I am totally obsessed with it.. LOL.. I rather quilt than eat ! I cook for several days so Spouseman can help himself while I am engrossed in sewing. All the steps of quilting have helped me get through the process of cancer treatment for past 15 months.It kept me looking forward. I enjoy the process as well as the finished quilt. They are given away and I retain photos of them. Well. I started something new. I decided to attend a quilting group at a senior center to see what they were doing. The group has bookoodles of supplies, tools available.. To be a member, you first make a quilt that is donated to the center for their donations or sales. Then you have access to the supplies for your own quilts, free.. What a blessing! The catch is that the first quilt ( which you will donate) is to be totally hand sewn. I thought I can do this and if not I will learn how. I looked thru one of the books for a pattern and picked Around the World because it had 4 inch squares with straight edges… no bias pieces. Other ladies helped me pick out the fabrics from the center’s stash. Size is approx 54 by 54″. I am on the last corner of the border. Soon it will be sandwich time. Now, how do you FMQ by hand? LOLOL….I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to take it to my sewing machine ! But I eventually settled into it and learned to love doing it. My decision to learn hand quilting is still a challenge as the quilting itself is just ahead of me. I am going to choose one of the FMQ designs and use it on this quilt. And I will dedicate it to our Moms and Grandmoms who only had their hands to use for quilting.
Linda L
It’s terrible that you lost your mom, it’s a big loss and you will go through it in your own unique way. I’m experiencing my own losses, first my dad last November and then my husband in January. Creating has been a safe harbor for me. I’m making pillows out of my dads canvas shirts, or art and I made a t shirt quilt to be shared with my sisters. I have used the fabric, buttons from his shirts, and ribbons from his swimming days as a child. It took me a few more months before I could cut into my husbands t shirts, but I did go through them all and have made a quilt for his son. I wrote about each t shirt so he had memories from all the places we visited or the hobbies he had. I intend to do another for myself but I’m taking a break and going back to items from my dads things. I don’t know what I would have done without sewing and creating.
Cathy Barta
Lori, you really need to give your self some time to grieve the loss of the one person who was always with you even before you were born. A lifetime of memories can’t be sorted in a day, a week or longer. It will take as long as it takes and let yourself have that time. Precious memories will begin to ease the burden of your loss and you will come back from this, slowly and stronger. I lost my mom unexpectedly when I was 33 and after a long time I can cope with it. Being 79 I have lost most of my family but God brings me through all things, even hard ones. Mom is now living in your heart as mine is. Bless all our mothers for making us who we are and strong too. Remember we only get one day at a time so just deal with that one day. Bles you Lori for all you do, Cathy
Judy
I am sorry for your loss. The memories that you have of your mother will always be with you and will help to ease some of the pain.
Pamela North
It will be 52 years ago this Christmas since my mother died when I was 22. I still miss her but she gave me my love of knitting, crochet, and embroidery. I know she would have loved to see my more recent love of patchwork. Working on crafts provides a therapeutic effect.
Judy Parker
Sorry for your loss. I know what it’s like to lose your mother. My mother started me sewing for 4-H when I was 7. She helped me so much by teaching not only me and my sister, but she was our Sewing Leader! That meant that all of my 4-H projects had to be perfect. She was a perfectionist! She made all of our dresses growing up. I didn’t start quilting until after she was gone. I have several of her quilts and what a treasure they are! Every time I start to sew my quilts, I feel her watching over me! That may seem crazy but I always think of Mom and thank her for her perseverance in teaching so many to sew!
Leslie Schmidt
I am so sorry about your mother. It’s a very wrenching loss. When my mom died 40 years ago, days before her 52nd birthday, I felt as though my anchor was gone and I was floating off into space. Then 15 years ago next month, my 23 year old daughter dropped dead from no known cause, and I was truly lost. I’m not trying to say that my loss was worse than yours or anyone else’s, just that I am reaching out to you from a place of common hurt. I hope you and your family can give each other the strength to carry each other through this sad time. And that you know how many people send you their love and concern.
auntiepatch69
I’m so sorry. Blessings on you and your family.
shoshana
Lori, as well as being glad you’re “back” i want to extend to you a piece of caring, it does feel , as you so well put it, a bit rusty getting back into “real” life, but many of us have been there and it does happen, the hole doesn’t seem to close, but slowly you just stop falling into it each time you come near, and then you learn to walk around it without tripping, and sometimes even smile with remembering. sending strenght and patience your way,
shoshana
Mary B
I definitely stitch my troubles away with quilting and cross stitch. It seems like a few hours of losing myself in sewing & I can see life, and its ups and downs in a different perspective. I have lost my zest for sewing a couple of times. But, I find once I get a project started, I just float away to my happy place.
Ann Walsh
Sorry to hear about your mom, Lori. We are never “old enough” to lose a parent. I lost my dad suddenly just months after my husband was in a terrible car accident and left with a traumatic brain injury. I was away from home in a rehab hospital with him when my dad died, leaving my mom on her own and all of us stunned. My husband survived just two years and then passed away as well. I had discovered an unexpected love for FMQ just before he died and it was the thing I needed to get me through the following months as I quilted myself to exhaustion every day so I would have things to look forward to and keep busy with instead of being sad all the time. It has been quite a journey, but through it I found quilting and it is now my therapy, my fun, and my passion. And your site with all the wonderful motifs and tutorials have certainly been a big part of that! Bless you 🙂
Kay
If I had a gift for you, it would be time so that the happy memories of the past will come your sorrow and grief. You need to remember to be kind to yourself and take care of yourself.
Three stories. My sister died 2006 somewhat unexpectedly and my Mother and I did a memory quilt – I drafted blocks of things related to her life so they could be English paper pieced and my Mother made them. Afterward I handquilted it and made a rather long label of her life’s story. It really helped us both
In Jan 2013 my Mother died and my Father asked me to make a similar quilt in her memory- some blocks overlapped but I had a feeling that I needed to at least finish the top quickly since his health was failing. I think he was glad to know there is something tactile of her life’s stories. He also asked that I finish the piece she was working on when she died and he was comforted by seeing it done. And from years before I had never finished quilting a full size Hawaiian quilt she had appliquéed and used this to quietly work thru my grief by knowing she had touched this fabric with love and care. Each stitch was an opportunity to have imaginary conversations with her and let her know how much she was loved and missed
When my Dad died in Nov 2013 I brought his 15 beloved aloha shirts back to my home in a Boston. It took me three years to “unsew” them, another year to iron them and within a month I am finally ready to cut them up, sew quilts for my brother , myself and with luck have fabric for a quilt for my son – the only grandchild.
It can get better but it may not come easily.
Rosemaryflower
So many comments from today and yesterday… all of them are so heart rending. I think we all know this crippling sadness. Some people are tough, I am not.
It is so so hard to find your clear conscience and do something. It takes time, and it is best to just do little things,
The best thing in life is that we are not alone. We are among friends. Life goes well with friends. They do give you courage.
God Bless all of you, and Lori, you and your family too.
Toni
designing, piecing, and especially the quilting process is always a very positive way for me to distance myself from stressful situations. If the project is going to be given as a gift happy memories of good times and the love shared with the recipient is always an added boost of happiness and well being.
Linda
It made me sad when I read your mother had passed. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Rebecca
Hi Lori~I am so so sorry for your loss, and am sending warm hugs, thoughts, and prayers to you, Pat, and family. I lost my dad July 29, and have to say that the few times since that I have been able to find time to quilt it has brought me peace and joy. My dad’s grandmother was a wonderful quilter, and I love the 2 that I have from her. I think often of how much I enjoyed your classes, and am very thankful for all that I learned from you. Blessing to you and your family at this difficult time.
Arvilla Trag
I quilt so I won’t kill people. When I lose my quilting muse I go to a fabric shop or shop on line. Or I look at my favorite quilt of all the ones I have made – it always makes me smile. It is Fancy Foxes, pattern by Elizabeth Hartman. I made it out of a blue batik layer cake, with a single orange fox wearing spectacles. I wish I could show you a photo of it – it is impossible to look at the orange fox and not smile. It was a baby gift for a co-worker’s new son. I wanted to make a throw-size quilt that a boy would not be ashamed of when he went to college and wanted to bring it along. (I am hoping it will be a girl magnet.)
lswanekamp
Lori, I am amazed at the stories people are sharing with you about their quilting and grief. It makes me proud to be a quilter and know stitching, sewing, quilting are strong positives motions in tough times.
Linda in Calif
Aww- Lori, ((( Cyber hugs ))) to you. I’m sorry to hear of your mother’s passing. I know you will miss her, but like you said she’s there with you. I spent so much time sewing and quilting while my husband was ill, I couldn’t do it after he passed, it just didn’t bring me peace anymore. I tried last night, and couldn’t get in the groove. I didn’t even enjoy it. But after reading this, I’ll go back and try to work through it. Blessings to you and your family.
Bernadette
Lori , I am sorry for your loss , and glad to read that you feel her presence.
It is important to give ourselves the chance to morn and work out howto keep our loved ones alive in our hearts and lives.
I shall keep you and yours in my prayers.
Martha
May special memories come to mind and bring you comfort as you recall your mother’s love. Since 1992, I have taught and encouraged “Creative Grief” (essentially making something as a tribute or memorial following loss). This circle would likely first think of something sewn while others write, create music, develop a nonprofit group, establish a scholarship fund, carve wood, build a house, volunteer, sculpt, paint, garden or help others. Blessings to your family – both relatives and sewing friends.
Barbara Frank
Lori, I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. The fact that you put your work and your successful blog on hold to care for her speaks volumes. God bless you and your family as you work through your grief.
Jane Herbst
Please know you and your family continue to be in my prayers, Lori, as you heal following the loss of your mother. My mom was “released” in February 5 years after her diagnosis with Alzheimer’s. During the last couple of years of her journey I had difficulty concentrating on quilt projects, my creative self disappeared, and I struggled when my much-loved fiber therapy attempts didn’t work. Some days all I could sew were HSTs, 4-patches, and circles. Other days I crocheted throws and lap-ghans, one of which I gave to Mom on her last Christmas. The gift I received in return was hearing real words from her for the first time in months as she commented on the stitches and colors. In June I finally resumed work on several projects, and made good progress until mid-August when my older brother passed from COPD. When my heart allows my brain to think about quilting I find peace in free-motion quilting. Through it all my friends from two quilt guilds have all been my quilt angels, offering hugs and encouragement, along with friends from tai chi class and, every day, my beagle, who keeps me grounded and focused on the here and now … one kibble bowl and one walk-down-the-street at a time. As I think about it, the common element is: it’s the process, not the end result, that feeds my soul. Or, as a poet wrote: it’s the going, not the getting there, that makes the trip worthwhile. Wishing you peace, good memories, and enduring love of family and friends.
paintedthread
I bet your out-of-groove is better than my in-groove any day. 🙂
I am sorry for your loss. It is nice to “see” you again and I hope life settles as you get back in your groove.
maria elena
Very sorry for your loss, I hope you will soon smile when you think of her!! I love my happy sewing place, it is my therapy and phycologist! Take time out for yourself to grieve.
Kari
Dear Lori, Sending you a warm hug. I’m so sorry for your loss! Thank you for sharing with us all your wonderful mom and memories. I too have fond memories of my Grandma teaching me to sew on the old singer..Sewing is therapy..I’m anxious to get back in the groove as well. A project started is a project soon finished. My sewing machine is my friend and comfort because it is tied to many family memories..LOVE. God Bless you Lori
Loreen
So sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. My mom, a quilter, passed five years ago. My sisters and I divvyed up her unfinished projects and have been finishing them. It has been immensely healing for me. One of my sisters got a tattoo, a quilter that said ‘Mom’. The loss is better now.
Deb Mac
I am so sorry to hear of your mother’s death. My mother passed away last October after nearly 3 years of being in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s My sister and I made biweekly visits as sister lived an hour away and I was almost 3 hours away. I bought fabric and started 2 quilts during that time. 1 for Mom that I never quilted because she thought it was too pretty and some one would steal it at the home. Got thru the holidays, started planning a house remodel, and hubby took a different job so we moved instead. I unpacked the boxes saving the sewing stuff for last and ran across the top for Mom. Just a few days later, we found out that a cousin (my mom’s favorite niece) has a brain tumor. The light went on and I finished the quilt for my cousin. It is a beautiful, vibrant, fall colored quilt and suits my cousin perfectly. It was tough finishing my Mom’s quilt but I feel at peace with it going to my cousin. I named the quilt “With love from Aunt Anne” because I know Mom would want this cousin to have it.
Linda in Calif
Such a beautiful story.
Theresa
My husband bought me a very expensive sewing machine for selling our house without a realtor. Three years later we were dealing with his illness and death. I had always worked p/t but needed to get full time. I got a job selling those machines. It was another whole story how I got the job but I’d say angels were involved. Twenty years later I still feel that protection is around me.
Phyllis
So sorry about your loss Lori. My daughter is fighting cancer right now so sewing and quilting are the ways to distract the mind and pray a lot for her.
Lori Kennedy
Phyllis, you and your daughter are in my prayers! I hope quilting will bring you comfort. Doing small things with great love does bring comfort!
Janette Billings
Made my first quilt ever while my husband was going through cancer treatment. Believe it or not it was a paper pieced quilt. Finished it after he passed away. Lost my Dad two years later.
Sewing has always been my therapy , making clothes for myself,younger sisters and my children to quilting now. Restores the heart!
Keep doing what you do, knowing that you are touching so many with your gifts.
Lori Kennedy
Janette, I am sorry for your loss! We are so lucky to have a hobby to distract us! It’s an amazing coping mechanism!
Maxine Reece
Very sorry for your loss. Quilting has been a great therapy after the loss of our 16 year old son. You h ave to keep your mind on what you are doing and pretty soon you start remembering the good times more than the sad ones. I love the piecing but I’m not so good at the finishing process but with this site And your help I’m trying harder to get through. You do beautiful work. Thanks for all you do.
Lori Kennedy
Oh Maxine, I am truly sorry for your loss! Losing a parent is difficult, but I can’t imagine losing a child! You are in my prayers!
Christina in SW FL
I am so sorry for your loss. I, too, used piecing and quilting to get through taking care of my BIL while he was busy in the process of and then dying. It was truly therapeutic for me. Now, to finish that quilt.
Lori Kennedy
Sorry for the loss of your BIL! Maybe the process was enough? Is finishing important? I’m beginning to wonder.
Donna Belisle
Love your bottles and yes, you can dredge despair and sadness right out of your head if you just doodle around long enough, it is like making a small hole in the sandbag and letting the grains drift off, little by little.
Jacqui VMS
Oh, love that analogy too! I find straightening out my fabric and sorting things when I go through sad times
gives me great therapy and before I know it, I’m on to sewing something and that gives me great comfort.
Lori Kennedy
Beautiful analogy, Donna! Thank you!
Ruthie
I’m so sorry for your loss. Quilting is good therapy. My husband passed away 3years ago. I was lost for a long time and couldn’t concentrate on anything. Finally I started dragging out fabric and unfinished projects. Getting started back to quilting was good for me. Maybe you can take some of her old clothing and make some memory items for you and your family members.
Lori Kennedy
Ruthie, Sorry for YOUR loss! I pulled out UFOs too! Seemed easier to work on something that was already in progress! Love the clothing idea!
Barbara
When my Father passed away, my sister collected all his flannel garments. She passed them along to me and I made her a flannel quilt. I collected the outline of handprints of three generations and used it as the quilting motif. She always has hugs when under her quilt.
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