How Charming!

My mother-in-law introduced me to quilting a couple of years ago. She made me my first quilt for my 26th birthday, and I fell in love immediately. I grew up watching my mother sew, so I know my way around a sewing machine. But- I never knew how to quilt.

I decided to try my hand at it 2 years ago. I made a simple quilt out of my favorite color, green. For those who are unfamiliar with quilting, a quilt is made by piecing together different fabrics to make a design. The back piece is typically one solid piece of fabric since it isn't shown as much. Both pieces (front & back) are then quilted together on a machine.

When I made my first quilt, I pieced together the top, bought the fabric for the back, and then never had it quilted. Life got in way, and I never made time to find the time.

A year later, my MIL told me about charm quilts. A charm quilt is a quilt that doesn't have any repeating pieces of fabric. It looks very scrappy, and women typically make them out of left over scraps of fabric from other quilts they had made. They are considered to be extremely lucky if you sleep under one. As soon as I heard the word luck, I knew I had to have one. My MIL sent me tons of fabric scraps that she had left over (she could probably open up her own fabric store), and I immediately got to work.

I wanted my quilt to have a certain order to it, and not just be a bunch of various pieces of fabric sewn together. I grouped them into color families, and then decided that I would sew them into cross shapes. I finished piecing the top of the quilt, and then I stopped. I put it away and forgot about it.

Fast forward to November of this year, Mr. Bossy & I were struggling with the news of our little one and holding on to one another for dear life. I remembered my charm quilt. Now, I'm not superstitious at all. I know that sleeping under a quilt is not going to make all of my dreams come true, but sometimes small things help me feel so much better. I called my MIL and asked her if she would quilt my top piece and the back piece together to finish my quilt. Of course, she said she would do it. While we waited though, Mr. Bossy's grandma had a charm quilt we could borrow until mine was finished. I felt better already!

Christmas Day 2011- I'm opening up my gifts at my MIL's house, and this is what I find.


My MIL had my quilt professionally quilted for me as a surprise Christmas gift! I was overwhelmed with gratitude, and Mr. Bossy couldn't wait to get home to put it on our bed! Now, we sleep under our own charm quilt and smile knowing that someday we will get lucky!






Bossy Bud