Nellie DiMar

last friday was the 10 year anniversary of my mom's death. i guess that was why my head was a little bit in the clouds, but it was also the first day of our weekly friday night prayer service so it made for a good day of reflection...

i am an admitted quilt addict. it's because of some very important women in my life that i grew into the world of quilting. it was my great-grandma hoyt that was the quilter from my past. i can still see some of the quilts in my mind and remember her pointing to the different fabrics, telling us who's dress or shirt they had come from. i remember sitting around her talking about the past while she stitched all the pieces together by hand. in later years (before her health went) her "crazy quilt" patterns turnned to tiny triangles sewn together in colorful pannels. When i graduated high school i recieved one of these quilts and a (short lived) tradition began as she made one for each great-grandchild as they graduated. Alzheimer's soon took these skills from her and gradually she had to put the sewing aside as her life faded away from us.

her daughter grandma jenks (margie) did quilt triangle quilts with her and i do have a pilow stashed away from her and everytime she visited me out west i had found another hole in my grandma hoyt quilt for her to repair. she was a mender in my mind because she was always fixing holes in my jeans (even when i thought they were cool). on her last visit to see me in california to give her a "project" i had her mend an old throw pillow for me. it was a funky fabric and she wasn't happy with the final alook, but i sleep every night with that pillow in my bed. although i know she did sew here and there it was her homemade chocholate cookies that always cross my mind with her and i haven't had the urge to bake after cancer took her from us.

her daughter diana was my mom. i remember the funky turqoise suit jacket she made me for the all county chorus concert i was in like it was yesterday. she was the alteration queen in my mind and i know she loved making her fabric dolls. it must be her sewing skills that passed oto my sister kj, because i've been amazed at the wedding gowns she has altered and more so the whole wedding party of rennisance cloths she made for my brother dave's wedding! i wish i was closer to my mom over the years but my dad was my buddy yet one of the last gifts she gave me was a knit ski cap with a tossle on top...i still wear it every winter (with my poorly done patches) and always will.

so... years later i decided to restart grandma hoyts tradition and began quilting for my niece and nephews, little did i know it would consume me, but not only do i find it relaxing and enjoyable but it gives me a chance to think about three women in my life that have touched me with love...and i miss them all...