01/10/2026
My mother in law said my quilt looks like a thrift store threw up on my bed and I've never been more proud of anything in my life.
Took me two years to make this. Every single square is a different fabric, most of them from clothes my kids outgrew or old curtains or tablecloths I found at estate sales. That orange floral print in the corner was my daughter's first Easter dress. The dark blue paisley was from my husband's shirt he wore on our first date, the one with the torn pocket he refused to throw away until I cut it up for this.
My mother in law came over last week, took one look at my bedroom, and said "it's very busy, isn't it?" in that tone she uses when she really means "this is hideous and you have terrible taste." Said her quilts are all coordinated, matching fabrics, professional looking. Said mine looks chaotic.
She's right. It is chaotic. It's every phase of my life stitched together in squares that don't match, colors that clash on purpose, patterns that fight with each other. I learned to quilt from YouTube videos at midnight after everyone went to sleep, pricking my fingers until they bled because I couldn't figure out how to use a thimble properly.
Bought most of the backing fabric from someone's destash sale on the Tedooo app, got eight yards of this perfect dark floral for twenty dollars. Found binding supplies there too from a woman who quit quilting after her divorce and just wanted it all gone. We ended up messaging about our projects and she showed me how to do proper mitered corners, sent me links to other quilters on the Tedooo app who sell vintage fabric scraps.
My mother in law's coordinated quilts sit in her linen closet wrapped in plastic. Mine is on my bed every single night, covered in dog hair and coffee stains and the weight of every memory I sewed into it. Cheesy or not, it's the most honest thing I've ever made.... ❤❤
