Show & Tell Friday for January 18

Today for Show & Tell Friday, I am taking the easy way out and showing something I already had photos of. I must apologize in advance for the quality of the photos. The one of the blue quilt, in particular, I know is very fuzzy and unclear, but it’s the only photo I could find of that quilt.

These are quilts which my mother-in-law made for my two daughters as they left for college. It was a long time between her original thought of the idea and the actual finishing of the quilts. This idea came to her when my older daughter left for boarding school, but the quilt was not finished for several years after that. Basically, her thought was to have me cross-stitch a bunch of squares with things meaningful to my daughter -- favorite Scriptures, sayings, activities, etc. -- and then she would put them together into a quilt in the Attic Window pattern. So eventually, with the help of another friend who did some of the cross-stitching, the quilts were done. My mother-in-law has (if I recall correctly) at least 17 grandchildren and a bunch of great-grandchildren, but she has never made any other quilts like this. They were a lot of work. But the idea is lovely, and I thought others might like to see them and consider doing something similar for a loved one.

Here is the blue quilt -- the first one. I know that the details are very fuzzy, but you get the idea.

The rose quilt was the second (and last) one she did.

Here is a more close-up photo of some of the squares of the rose quilt.

On many of the squares, I started with a motif that I found in a book and then personalized it in some way. To show my daughter’s love of the ocean, for example, I did one with a seashell border and put a quote from John Masefield within the borders: “I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky.” On each quilt, I did a square for each of the 4 seasons. And I did squares with each of their siblings’ names, etc.

This was quite a stressful project because we were working with deadlines to get all of the squares and the quilts completed. But the result was truly a treasure in the end.

To see what others have shared for Show & Tell this week, head on over to There is No Place Like Home
. It's always fun to visit Kelli's house!