Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Baby Blankets

I have three hobbies: reading, snowboarding and sewing.

The reading I get from my dad. He read every single night and I can honestly say that I don't remember him ever sitting down in his chair without a book in his hand. I don't remember if he ever read to me as a child, but they say that children learn by example and he definitely set a good one for me. I love to read and have my dad to thank for that.

Snowboarding I can attribute to my friends Kelly and Becky.  They picked me up off my butt more times that I can count the first year I tried the sport and there was no looking back. I can't wait to take my first ride down the hill every year and I love that my winters are filled with such fun memories.

But my love of sewing - that comes from my mom.

As a child I would always find my mom downstairs in her sewing room. She made a lot of our clothes and really enjoyed making things herself. My favourite shirt was pink and had a The Little Mermaid patch in the corner. My mom made it and I was completely devastated when my sister Celina tried to do the laundry by herself and accidently bleached it.

My mom said I was the only daughter to take a real interest in sewing and I used to ask to help pick the fabric and to use the needle. Like any child, my attention span was short, but she knew I would grow up to love sewing as much as she did. Jacquie can sew as well, but doesn't have the same passion that my mom and I share.

As a gift one year in high school she bought me my very own sewing machine. It was a combined gift for Jacquie and me and I remember Jacquie feeling disappointed because the gift was clearly for me. But I was beyond excited. It's the same machine I still have today (so I'm probably due for a new one - Hint, Hint).

I used the machine to make pajama pants and to sew up rips in clothes, but then one day I decided to make a baby blanket. It started almost 9 years ago when I found out that my friend Kelly was pregnant. I wanted to make something special for the baby and thought that a homemade baby blanket would be a thoughtful gift. My Aunt Peggy instructed me on how to sew a simple blanket and I sewed it up in less than an hour.

Other friends and family members started having babies, so I began making more and more blankets. I made quite a few frayed-edge style quilts and then my mom helped me make a few with silk borders. They were all nice and I was proud of every one we finished, but I always felt we could do better. And that's when my mom, Jacquie and I took a quilting class. If my love for sewing wasn't cemented already, it was then.

Now my mom and I plan quilting parties for the two of us. We meet at my house or hers (usually hers as she has a fantastic new sewing room) and we spend the day/weekend quilting baby blankets for all the new babies that are coming into this world. We also meet at fabric stores (our favourites being Fabricland, The Quilt Patch and Quilter's Haven) and can spend hours picking out the perfect fabrics to match each quilt design. It's so much fun spending the time with my mom and sharing this passion for sewing.

Here's a recent picture of us at one of our quilting parties.

 
And mom - thank you so much for sharing your passion for sewing with me. It's a skill that I'm so happy to have and I hope one day that my kids will love it as much as we do.
 
Melanie
 

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