sew many distractions

The 2023 holiday season was the first one for a loved one to spend in a memory care facility. The room did not have much space for decorating for Christmas.  If you have visited many long-term care facilities, you know the rooms are usually small. The only surface to set anything on was a small 3-drawer dresser/night stand.  That space was already occupied by her TV, so there was no place to set a Christmas tree.  Even if there had been a place to set a miniature tree, there were other safety concerns to consider with it being a memory care unit.  I decided to make her a wall hanging.  I didn’t feel like I had time to make a pieced wall hanging, so I started looking for quilt panels.  

At that time, there was a quilt near Boonville, MO that was known for having a large selection of quilt panels, Missouri County Quilts.  It was run by a very friendly couple.  They always offered warm cookies and water or soda to everyone that visited.  They had the cutest little Yorkie dog, Abby, that occupied a little bed on the counter.  It was my favorite stop when traveling across Missouri on I-70.  (I am so sad to say that they closed their store earlier this year.  I will miss stopping at that place.) Once I decided to use a quilt panel for mom’s wall hanging, I knew where to look.

I decided to try to find 2 panels of similar size. One Christmas panel, and another with flowers or birds or both (my loved one loves flowers and birds).  I wanted to use 2 panels so when Christmas was over, the hanging could be turned around and she would still have something pretty on her wall.  I was fortunate to find two panels the same size.  The Christmas panel was Holiday Flair Christmas Tree Panel by Studio E.  The panel with the flowers and birds was Mint Crush Floral Panel by Wilmington Prints.

There was so much going on then, I wanted to get the wall hanging finished quickly, so I did not do a proper quilt binding.  I sewed the panels (right-sides together) and batting together with some ribbon sandwiched between the panels.  I left an opening at the bottom to turn it right sides out.  Once it was turned right sides out, I sewed up the opening. Then did some simple quilting using a walking foot on my machine.  It wasn’t perfect, but she liked it.  It was hung by tying the ribbons around Command hooks. She is in a different facility now, but she still has it hanging on her wall.

There were times this year when I felt too worn out to put up the Christmas tree at my house. Then I thought about my loved one. As long as she was able, she always decorated for Christmas. I put my tree up and I am so glad I did. We never know how many Christmases we have left wherever we are. Enjoy the holidays and the time with your loved ones.