Christmas Table Topper WIP

One block is quilted

My grandmothers were both quilters. One made me a doll quilt for my 8th Christmas, and the other made several quilts which are still in my possession. I always felt that I would follow in their footsteps one day, and although I'm not exactly sure why, grieving is what led me to finally pursue it.

Doll quilt made by my paternal grandmother, Hattie Eulelah "Lela" Thomas Lawhorn

Quilts made by my maternal grandmother, Minnie Elzada Turner Mitchell

A few months after my adored father died in 1982, I took my first quilting class. We learned to make a basic quilt block and how to hand quilt it. I didn't keep up with it, but I always had in the back of my mind that I would get to it someday. My sweet little Mom came to live with us in 2002, and after she passed away in September 2010 I again felt a yearning to quilt, so I took another quilting class. This time it "took". We made a table topper with four basic quilt blocks - nine-patch, rail fence, churn dash, and Ohio star. The class was in November, so I chose Christmas fabric and planned to use the finished quilt on my kitchen table. I didn't finish it then, but fast forward 4 years, and although I've finished several other quilts, I am finally quilting and finishing the first one I started.

Back of quilt

Christmas fabric - I think this was Basic Grey Fruitcake by Moda

This project has gone through two moves, and when I joined Rachael's Purge-Along, I found this in a basket during the "purge" of my sewing closet. I will finish quilting and binding and post the result here, hopefully before another four years pass.

I found a new blog this morning written by British quilter Lynne of Lily's Quilts and am excited to be linking to her Small Blog Meet. This is a "linky" party for blogs with less than 50 followers and an opportunity to meet other quilters/bloggers.