Hello all, Mary Ellen here.

Many of us inherited our love of quilting and all things fabric from our moms. Our moms are often the best cheerleaders for our quilting efforts. My mom was my first sewing teacher. I was allowed to use the “real” machine when I was a little girl and never had to use “junk” fabric because I was just learning. If there wasn’t money to purchase good fabric for my projects, I learned to wait and save, rather than to buy fabric that wasn’t of good quality. In the days when the standard for well made clothes was clothing made by a dressmaker or tailor, I learned that you wanted your project to look “handmade, not homemade.” I think maybe the perfectionist streak I have came from my mom and great-grandma. Neither worried about the scars to my psyche that would result from picking out stitches and resewing to get it right. I did learn though, that some times the best thing is to walk away from the project for a while before returning to fix the mistake. My mom’s mom, my Nana, was a fine needleworker with wonderful skills who didn’t really enjoy sewing. She sewed out of necessity–not enjoyment, but also taught me that sometimes you just have to get it done whether you want to or not. Nana taught me the love of the kitchen and the garden. That’s where her heart was. How about you? Did you get your love of fabrics and thread from a special woman in your life? Or perhaps you’ve been passing the love of the needle to another friend, daughter, niece …?

Somewhat related to all of this is the joke Bob Purcell of Superior Threads shared in his e-mail this morning. He also is sharing things his mother taught him, but not related to sewing. He gets complete credit for the list that follows. I think we all learned some of these same things from our own moms.

Bob’s Superior Joke
Things My Mother Taught Me

My mother taught me RELIGION.
“You’d better pray that will come out of the carpet.”
My mother taught me TIME TRAVEL.
“If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”
My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
“Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you’re in an accident.”
My mother taught me IRONY.
“Keep crying and I’ll give you something to cry about.”
My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
“Look at that dirt behind your ears!”
My mother taught me about WEATHER.
“This room of yours looks like a tornado went through it.”
My mother taught me about ENVY.
“There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do.”
My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
“Just wait until your father gets home.”
My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
“You are going to get it when you get home!”
My mother taught me HUMOR.
“When you fall and break your leg, don’t come running to me.”
My mother taught me WISDOM.
“When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.”
My mother taught me about JUSTICE.
“One day you’ll have kids and I hope they turn out just like you.”

I hope you all have a great Mothers’ Day!