One Quilt's Story.....

For years the unfinished piece hung on the wall in my mom's kitchen. She had pinned the rough edges so they wouldn't show. Whenever we visited I would tell her that I could take it and add some fabric so she could hang it as a complete piece. I had no intention of finishing the needlework stitching, but just add a kind of fabric border or frame. However, each time we would leave to go home, the piece remained on her wall and never made it into my suitcase.

I don't know who did the needlework, perhaps my maternal grandmother who emigrated from Sweden? I never met her because she died when my mom was just out of high school. Maybe some other Swedish relative? I googled the Swedish phrase that was part of the work to find out what it meant.

Om dagen vid mitt arbete Ar du uti mitt sinn.

During the day at my work You are in my mind.

Then I took the needlework to my small quilting group for their advice and several friends told me to look at all the colors in the figure's apron.....and so I raided my stash! As I look at the quilt now hanging on the wall in our den, the phrase means more to me. Remembering my mother and how she "mothered" this Swedish sentiment fits her perfectly.

I know just how much she loved my sister and me. What she did as a mother/homemaker was always with our needs and wishes at center stage. We were "in her mind".

Thanks mom....I'm just sorry I didn't finish this while you were alive to see it.