Stitches in Time

This is the wall-hanging that inspired me to finally blog about my Mother-in-law's amazing quilting and appliqué work. It appeared in the background of a photo of our Christmas Tree I posted earlier. As you can see, it's the Three Kings on the final leg of their journey to visit the Christ Child - the stable can be seen there in the distance, with a tiny Mary and Joseph kneeling over a lentil-sized baby in a manger. There is no detail so tiny that Mom O. won't attempt to appliqué it!

My favourite things about this piece are the holiday prints that she's integrated into it in the form of the Kings' robes and some of the layers of the hills (she is very skilled at picking patterns and colours that complement each other and is absolutely brilliant in other pieces she's done at effectively using patterns to evoke textures) as well as the proportions of the Star of David. I also just love running my fingers over the teeny, tiny figures in the manger - how she managed to turn a hem and appliqué them I just can't imagine.

There is a lot of Mom O. in Christmas around our house. She's made and gifted us with our Christmas tree skirt; several trivets and placemat sets; and this table centerpiece - which is currently doing service on a pedestal next to the front door beneath a candy dish made for us last year by our Goddaughter. (It has Hershey's Holiday Kisses in it at the moment.)











There's also my Christmas stocking...















...and Husband's. It's not quilted, it's felt appliqué, the original one she made for his very first Christmas!
















Another wonderful piece she gave us as a gift is this wall hanging, which is about 3m long and which is meant to evoke a stained-glass window.

(A more literal evocation of a stained-glass window, featuring a dove, was commissioned by her church and was co-designed by Dad O. It's unbelievably beautiful.)









This bag she made especially for me (could you tell?) as, I believe, a birthday gift. It's a favourite and gets schlepped back and forth to Moncton even now, as I use it as a shopping bag and to take things to and from work.







Lest anyone doubt the level of care she puts into her work, the thing that is holding these cats' attention is a butterfly - a subtle addition which is simply stitched into the bag in barely-visible thread, just an outline, a shadow of a butterfly. A little touch that elevates the design from "cute" to "brilliant".


A detail of another wall hanging showing the quality of her hand-stitching. All this work is entirely hand-stitched, as are the full-size quilts she makes.

Unfortunately, her eyes have begun to fail her, and she has a lot of trouble seeing the tiny stitches now; and she also suffers from arthritis which can cause her great pain in her hands, among other things. Reluctantly, she has limited her needlework drastically. That makes me sad; but I'm grateful for all the wonderful gifts she's given us and dozens of other family members over a lifetime of creating beautiful things with her hands.

ronnie