Crafty Christmas

I spent time over Christmas and New Years with two of the best, most talented women in the world: My Mom and my Mother-in-law. Fortunately for me, they are both willing to share their gifts with others.

A few years ago my mom joined the Prayer Shawl Ministry at church. She's been knitting up a storm ever since. Her newest project is knitting hats for babies in the hospital. She got several different sized looms for Christmas and she offered to teach me how to knit while I was home. As it turns out, knitting hats is really quite easy (and quick) to learn. I finished the hat on the right in just a few days. It's a good thing since the temperatures haven't been over 30 degrees since I returned to NY. Although tight, this hat does the trick in protecting my ears from the overwhelming wind.

For some lucky baby's bald head.

My Mother-in-law is a gifted seamstress who shares her gifts wherever she goes. When she visited Seattle in 2009 she brought a sewing machine in her trunk. I was ashamed to admit that one of the quilts we started together way back then had sat in my closet unfinished until this winter. She graciously agreed to help me complete it.

I sent this bunny-patterned baby quilt to my host sister's daughter in Armenia. Although I'm not sure when I'll be able to return to meet her, I hope this quilt will keep her warm through the winter.

Thank you both for the things you have taught me--crafts and life lessons.

Quilting Lessons

Ta da! Started in October when Dominic's mother, Peg, came to visit and here before your very eyes today: My first complete picnic quilt!

Peg came up to Seattle by car -- which was a good idea because it would be hard to carry a sewing machine and folding table on a flight from California. I sure am glad she did because it gave us the excellent opportunity to experience what she warmly referred to as "intense relationship building". She taught me the basics, how to sew (and unfortunately rip), how to cut with my new special for-quilting-use-only scissors, and how to measure accurate squares (that's a skill I'll need to perfect over time).

Quilting is an amazing process and one that I've taken for granted. I have a dear Aunt (Carlene) who quilts by hand. Among many others, she has the gifts of patience and attention-to-detail. Here's the quilt she gave us at my bridal shower:

I'm not sure if the intricate stiches show up here, but trust me, this is a masterpiece.

Peg is also an artist. She has a special talent of dreaming up creative designs, patterns and color-schemes that become functional works of art. For my Sacramento bridal shower she gave us the quilt below:

In the upper right hand corner there are two hearts on a map of Armenia.

Peg is a teacher by trade, so of course she was patient with me as I fumbled with the new tools and instructions. She was great to show me the skills I could use to make a quilt on my own (even without a sewing machine). One of my favorite parts, pictured below, is the corner-tying. Not only does this keep my stuffing from sliding around in between the front and the back, it helps cover up any aligning mistakes I may have made. How handy!

This was a late night. We even managed to pull Dom into the tying fun while we all watched TV on our laptop.

We had to celebrate my accomplishment, so Sunday night I made Aunt Kathleen's Chinese Chicken Salad (one of my favorites) and we had a picnic in the living room.

(Don't mind the poor basil plant in the background, I have high hopes it will make it through the gray winter).

Thank you to all the awesome women in my life who teach me such great life skills. Watch out, you just might get a home-made meal on the floor the next time you visit!