Something that has only happened a couple times in my life, happened this year on Christmas morning! As I opened a gift from my Mom, I burst into tears!

You see my Mom is in her mid 80’s and life has been challenging for her these past few years. She is the full-time caregiver to my Dad who has dementia. My Mom is incredibly strong and extremely dedicated to caring for my Dad’s every need. In addition to all she does around the clock for my Dad, she keeps an immaculate house and a perfectly spotless car. Did I mention I gave her a car washing kit for Christmas and she was thrilled. My Mom is kind of like Wonder Woman! However, she has very little time to do things that she loves, things such as quilting which is one of her passions.

For the past few months when I passed by her spare room, I noticed that she was working on a quilt. The back of the quilt was blue fabric covered in red and orange flowers. This quilt was very “her”. I say that because my Mom’s favorite color is blue and she lights up anytime someone gives her flowers. I know that when my Dad was able, he would give her flowers often and she always loved that. I’m sure the flowers in the fabric reminded her of all those flowers plus the beautiful ones she has growing in her garden.

Here is my Mom’s latest quilt.

Even though I saw pieces of this fabric unassembled, I had no idea that she was planning on giving me this for Christmas. So, when I opened the box and saw it, I cried.

She named this quilt Nanny’s Garden. “Nanny” is what my kids call her.

As I examine each perfect stitch, I am reminded of how lovingly she put this together during a rare break in this challenging season. I felt so incredibly blessed to receive such a special gift.

The colors of the fabric inspired me to create a card that looks like a quilt to give her to say thank you. We have the perfect new stamp set in our catalog. It’s called Needle and Thread. It is a part of our Needlepoint Nook Suite. This stamp set is one of our exclusive DistINKtive stamps! You can see below how picture perfect it stamps. Just look at the details in the stitched flowers on my card.

This set can also be purchased in a bundle with the Needlepoint Elements Framelit Dies. As you can see I used one of the dies to create the stitched rectangle blocks. I also used it on the envelope and it worked out beautifully.

The stitching on the envelope went through to the back side. I wish I had a picture of my Mom admiring the envelope. She ran her finger across the stitches and looked at it with a big smile on her face. It was as if she thought I stitched it by hand. We’ll I guess I kind of did stitch it myself, but by using my Big Shot of course!!

The look on my Mom’s face when she opened the card was priceless. She said, “My Quilt”. Then she told me she better not read the message inside at that time or she might cry! It was a very touching moment.

It’s hard to see in the photo but I added some small iridescent Gingham Gala Adhesive Backed Sequins from our Gingham Gala Suite.

They provided just the right amount of sparkle on this fun quilted card.

This stamp set is one I would have never purchased. However, once I saw some card samples in person, I was sold. I know a lot of friends who in addition to stamping, enjoy working with a needle and thread and they will definitely love this set!

I am not sure if I’ve ever shared this but before I was a stamper I used to enjoy Hawaiian Quilting. I made a few small pillows and I finished one that is framed and hanging on our wall. It was fun to make those quilts but it was also very time consuming. I haven’t made a quilt in 20 years. I think its because I discovered that stamping is a much faster way for me to get the satisfaction of being creative and completing something in a matter of minutes. Quilting takes patience, something I don’t have a lot of. I am, however, working on that!

My Mom’s thoughtful gift inspired me to reexamine my schedule and work a little harder at using the free time I find to create something beautiful. Whether it be with fabric or ink and paper, I’d like to give to others the way my Mom gave to me, handmade and from the heart!

Needle and Thread

Amazing Lynn

Sweet Little Hula Girl

Stamped With Aloha