She's an old-fashioned quilter...

One of the first quilts Mom Stager made for us years ago...

My mother-in-law, Olena Stager, is a quilter...the old fashioned kind, doing it all by hand. It usually takes her about six months to do a full/queen size quilt in her spare time. Mom Stager started quilting in 1982 when she retired. At 83 years old, she is still going strong. She says quilting is how she relaxes. To date, she has made about 50 quilts, almost all of which she has given away. All of these quilts have names, or I should say the designs have names. Most of the quilts she does are made up of thousands of pieces hand stitched together into a "top" and then stitched onto the "bottom" with batting in-between. A recent quilt that she completed had 4500 pieces for example.

My hubby and I are going to be the recipients of the quilt she is working on right now. It is different in that it is embroidered, but it will still be quilted. The design is called Evening Rose. It will be 108" by 108". I figure we have about 3 more months to redo our bedroom in time for the new quilt. I'm really excited. Here's what it will look like:

This one pictured she recently completed to be raffled at our next family reunion (my side of the family). I must have been afraid I wouldn't win it, so that's why she is making one just like it for us, only a little larger. I think this is the only time she has done two the same.

This is a quilt she made for us 14 years ago when we moved into our new home. The pattern is called Texas Lone Star. (All of these are being displayed in our spare room for the purpose of picture taking, so that's why the colors don't match the walls!)

Here's another quilt she made us a few years ago. It is a family quilt that we have hanging on our wall in the upstairs hallway. It has the names and birth dates (and death dates where applicable) of my husband and I, our children and their wives, our parents and grandparents on both sides. Actually of those who were still living at the time she made this one, she embroidered their actual signatures. Very creative wouldn't you say? She designed this one herself.

My mother-in-law is really talented with her quilting, obviously. Over the years I've tried to get her to enter some into shows, but she won't have any part of it. She also doesn't want to sell them because she says it will take the joy out of her hobby if it became a business.

I'm grateful that she has this wonderful hobby, and that she has good eyesight at her age that allows her to keep doing it. I think that totally hand-stitched quilts are a dying art...except perhaps in the Amish communities. But oh you should see their prices!