One of my favorite things to do when I’m not writing is embroidery. Another is quilting. I’ve found a way to combine the two. First, I made baby quilts for my nieces. White on white, I machine embroidered them with the darning stitch so I had control. They turned out so nice, but I really love to hand embroidery. That’s when I discovered red-work. During a quilting shop-hop, one of the stores highlighted red-work. For those of you who don’t know what red-work is – it’s embroidery done in all red floss. Just the outline of the picture, not filled in like other embroidery patterns.
Anyway, I fell in love with it. Every year I make something for Christmas (often a Santa) for my six children and give it to them on Thanksgiving. I found a Santa pattern and did it all in red-work, framed it and gave it to them.
That’s when I decided to make a baby quilt for each of my grandchildren – for their first born. I started out with coloring books for designs. I traced the images onto 12×12 squares of muslin. After I finished embroidering the squares I cut sashing and sewed them together. For the backing I used various fabrics, not nursery print. None of the quilts have nursery fabric in them at all. I’ve used patterns from animals to Winnie the Pooh.
Eventually, I found transfer books and started using them for designs. I looked everywhere for baby designs. Thirteen of them are finished, but I now have 14 grandchildren, that’s a lot of baby quilts. Most of the quilts are done in red work, but several are done with various colors, too.
I finally finished them about a year ago. It took a couple of years to do all the squares. Since then, I also made quilts for my niece’s twins. One of the patterns is kittens and the other is bunnies. She had a girl and boy, so I thought the bunnies would be good for him. Now, she’s having another child. A boy –so I’m working on baby animals for her.
Last year, I gave my first grandchild’s quilt to my oldest granddaughter, whose baby boy was born in June – my first great grandchild. Last August, my fourteenth grandchild was born, another boy. I have the perfect quilt pattern for him. Puppies. I haven’t started it and it’s going to be many years before he’ll need it. I’ve marked each quilt with the name of the grandchild they’re supposed to go to in case I’m not around to give it to them. My daughters have been instructed to pass them out.
If you’d like to know more about me or my books, check out my website www.roseannedowell.com or my blog http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com
Oh Darling, Darling, Darling Ro. Your gift to your grandchildren and whoever else receives the beauty you weave will be cherished beyond what anyone can envision. My mother battled Rhematoid Arthritis but she still managed to make each of us children/grandchildren an afghan. She is passed now which makes the gift all the more special. It is precious and beautiful what you are doing because even now, the memory of what my mother did is brought to life yet again through this wonderful post. Thank you for giving me that warm recollection again today. Love you.
Chris, it seems your hosting my favorite people…thank you for giving them a platform to make me smile.
Oh, Ro, you took me back to my childhood when my nanna used to make quilts for us using bits of dresses and fents. Grandpa would turn the handle of her anicient Singer hand-sewing machine because with her arthritis she could not manage it. They had it down to a fine art. She also used to do embroidery, and smocking,and traditional Maltese bobbin lace. These quilts of yours are heirlooms!
Thank you, Karen and Tanja, for dropping by. I know aren't Ro's pieces beautiful. I still have the patchwork quilt my dad's mom made me.
You wouldn't have room for pix of all the quilts I've made. I love doing it.
What gorgeous quilts! They will be treasured forever, I'm sure.
Heirlooms to be passed down! Absolutely beautiful!
Morning, Ro. Well, now, you'll have to set up a photo-blog and share. Maybe, like I bug another friend of mine, set up some youtube videos for us to watch and learn
Thank you Ann and Gail for dropping by…couldn't agree more
Beautiful, Ro. I got all teary, remembering how much I lost when I divorced. The cherished quilt I had from my grandmother and one from an aunt got left behind when my ex husband walked away from our home and everything that I hadn't had a chance to collect. I was in the hospital at the time. Your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews are so lucky. I guess you wouldn't care to adopt someone older than you????
Thank You, Ginger for dropping by. MASSIVE HUGS
Wow, oh wow, oh wow. These are absolutely gorgeous works of art. How multi-talented you are!
Thank you, Beth for dropping by…Totally agree.
🙂 Well there can be no argument about it. i live in the Shenandoah Valley in the middle of a lot of women who quilt, especially in the Mennonite Church which I married into. Every fall they have this huge Mennonite Relief Sale to raise money for mission work and the Quilt Auction is the big draw.
Thank you, Beth for coming by. We have a similar community a couple of hours from us. I believe they insist on leaving at least one error/goof in every quilt. Their belief of only the Man Upstairs is perfect. Always reminded me not to be so hard on myself 🙂
Ro, I love that red work Santa. I wasn't familiar with that term. But when I was about 6 years old, my mom traced my hands on a tablecloth and embroidered it in red for my grandmother. Hmmm…maybe she was doing red work? You are giving a wonderful gift…truly keepsakes. I might just have to pick up embroidery again…so pretty.
Thank you JQ for coming by. The Santa and Teddy are my favourites
I'm so impressed by quilters. I can sew, but my skill level is such I could never quilt.
cmr
Thank you, Chris, for stopping by. Never say never
Roseanne, what a nice big family you have. Quilts are a wonderful way to show love. The red work is beautiful. I made crib quilts for my five grandchildren.
Thanks, Chris. Creatitivity is a great topic.
Thank you, Barbara. Roseanne's work is beautiful. Love a creative mind.