Baldwinsville — The mystery of the seasons delights me. We’re blessed to have all four seasons in Baldwinsville. I know the jokes – that we have two seasons, fall and winter. But for all our teasing about Central New York winters, we’re proud of our heartiness. We brag about how we survived this-or-that storm and how much snow we plowed before work. We revel in the morning crisp and sparkle of new snow. This winter continues to be mild overall, and today as I write, it even looks like spring.
On the farm, winter means wood stoves and popcorn, reading catalogs and making repairs. Winter means long hours in the barn, bending new steel into new machines. It means feeding potatoes and grain to the cows, watching the steam from their breath fill the barn. For me and my mother-in-law, it means cherished hours spent quilting.
For years Nancy’s made quilts to give away to her children and grandchildren.
Her favorite pattern is the humble charm quilt, made of 5” square blocks arranged in whatever color scheme suits her or the recipient. The uniqueness of these quilts lies in the stash of fabrics from which she makes her blocks. She’s quilted and sewn for so many years that she has remnants from many projects. Reusing the fabrics in quilts for my four girls has yielded many fond memories for us all.
A few years ago my eldest daughter was making college plans. I thought it’d be fun to make her a quilt to take to college. So I asked my mother-in-law to do it. She grinned widely and said “No – this time, you do it.” I was intimidated by the thought. I’d only made a couple quilts, early in my marriage, and hadn’t done much sewing since. But with promises of help from Nancy, and the generous offer of her fabric stash, I started on my own journey of quilting.
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