Grandma would want me to

Ever since mom gave me the bag of great-great-grandma Bess's quilt pieces last month, I've had such energy and excitement about finishing it. These pieces have sat, largely untouched for about 40 years. I started right away piecing them together- by hand- as mom suggested I do. Maybe it wasn't so much a suggestion but rather, "You're not doing it by HAND? That's how grandma started it." when I mentioned I could whip it out quickly by machine. I felt at that point that I had to do it by hand.

I worked tirelessly as much as I could, which wasn't much with the kids home as much as they were last month. I had two whole rows of "blocks" together. Unfortunately, since they were attached with ovals, they didn't always match up well and certainly didn't lie flat. It just looked poopy. Talking with mom and Granny, we decided that splitting the ovals down the center and sewing them on first to make an actual square block would be much easier to put together. So Preston and I sat down Saturday night and took the whole thing apart (he's good with a seam ripper). The. Whole. Thing. I could have cried.

When I went to re-start it, my determination was lost. I wanted to do this by hand, but realistically, I have two small children. They keep me busy. If I intend to have two of these finished by Christmas, there's no way that I could do it by hand. I know that Grandma Bess started this by hand. It's evident by all of the neat stitches carefully placed. She put in a lot of work and love into it. I can feel it. But just this morning, I realized that Grandma would want me to do it however I wanted to. She intended for those pieces to make a quilt, and being that they've sat untouched, she would want them put together. As long as someone took the time to do it, she wouldn't care how it was made.

So now I have a renewed optimism. I am ready to get this made. In her memory. Thank you, Grandma Bess!