quilts and an accidental tradition

this weekend i completed my 13th quilt. 13th?! you say? yes, 13th. and boy was it an accidental tradition that i started. it all began in 2000 when i went to see gina and laura in boston. i took my shoe shine kit and i was going to shine shoes in the subway to make money. i love shining shoes. but it rained the whole time i was there. not constant downpours but every day was drizzly at some point. so that put the kabosh on my shoe shining business. so i was looking for something to do and laura and her cousin karen had these incredible quilts on their beds. they are from connecticut and their mom's or aunts had made them and i thought, well it's just a bunch of squares. i can't sew a dress with curves, but i could sew straight lines. so began my quilting. i made one by hand and realized i really liked it. then i got a book of patterns and i made another one. then i made one for my neice. then my nephew. then my cousin's baby (mudders, my grandma, made the quilt top, i just did the quilting work on it.) then i made one for my husband. we picked the fabrics out at a fabric store in hawaii on our honeymoon. then after the trail i came home and made him a quilt. then i made one as a wedding present for my college roommate. then i took a break for a year. then my brother told me he was having a baby, well, not him, but his wife. then they called to tell me their baby turned into 2. on the same day paul's sister called to say that she too was pregnant. then my other brother called and he was expecting his first. 4 quilts in one year! i was pooped. then my parents lost a very dear friend and i made a quilt for his wife out of his old shirts and pants. that was a very meaningful quilt and that one will always have a special place in my heart. i loved doing that one. all of my quilts have been gifts but that one was a real gift from deep down inside. i think that was the first time that i realized that my quilting was a gift from god and that by creating all of these quilts is truly the only way i can pass on my gift to others. then finally this quilt that i made this last year and a half. whew. that's that. i don't have pictures of all of my quilts on this computer but here's a picture of the one i finished this weekend:


i was going to take a break for a while but i've decided i want to prepare a boy quilt and a girl quilt for little old selfish me so that i'm prepared when i finally do get my babies. then i'll go back and finish quilts for sophie bee, violet joy, and emerson kate. that way i will be prepared for my babies but i won't feel guilty for leaving the others out that i am skipping over for me. and it's sort of my way of staking my claim that i am going to have a baby. "see? i already have a quilt for it?" i will say.
the boy quilt i'm going to start this week is called "spinners quilt". it will be blues, purples, yellows, oranges and greens. i hope it is as beautiful as my others. but i need more purple quilt. darn, i'll have to go fabric shopping.