The following is an essay I submitted to Quilter’s Newsletter’s writing contest, “300 Words about Quilting – The Person I Taught to Love Quilting”. They have selected it for publication on their website coming up in August/September as part of their “Web Extras”. (You can see my previously published essay here.)

I’ve chosen to dedicate this post to my mom for Mother’s Day – Love ya Mom!

Mom and Me

Quilting Bridges The Generations, by Christa Watson

When I was little, my mom taught me to sew. When I became an adult, I taught her to quilt. As a child, Mom fueled my desire to be an artist. Growing up, we participated in all sorts of community crafts classes together like candy making, chocolate molding, needlepoint, and even a short stint with ceramics. One of my fondest memories was picking out brightly colored cloth bands and making piles of woven potholders. (You can guess what everyone got for Christmas that year.) Mom taught me how to make clothes for my Barbie dolls and how to stuff a pincushion. To this day, she has kept my very first project.

As I grew older and life got in the way, I buried my inner artist. Mom divorced, I survived my teenage years, and we really didn’t have that much to talk about for awhile. Then, about a year after I married, Mom decided to give me a sewing machine for Christmas, thinking I could put it to good use. Before long, I stumbled upon quilting. (How did we miss that before?) All of a sudden, I could create again.

Three Generations of Fabric-Lovers

Soon after, I became the teacher, and Mom signed up for every one of my quilting classes. She was my number one fan, and I don’t know which she loved more: learning how to quilt, or spending time with me. We joined a guild, started attending quilting retreats, and drooled over colorful new fabrics together. We found something in common once again. The joy I felt in teaching this exciting craft was even more meaningful with Mom as one of my students.

Now that we are both a little older with quite a few quilts under our belts, Mom spends a lot of time these days taking care of her mom and keeping her warm and cozy with quilts we’ve made together. I now have my own young daughter who’s old enough to sew and has just completed her first quilt. I’m beginning to see that spark of desire that my mom first kindled in me, and I look forward to the time my daughter is old enough to attend her first quilting retreat with Mom and me!

My Mother’s Day Shirt From My Daughter