Welcome visitors from Sew Mama Sew!  You’ll find the Giveaway Day post here.

The other day, my sister Rachel and I were talking about sewing. She is just starting to sew and was commenting about how little she knew and how much she had left to learn.  I said something like, “Well, you can do it Rach.  Everything I know I taught myself from tutorials on the internet.”

That’s actually not true (sorry Rach!).  The specific skills that I have today such as zippers, box pleats, gussets, French seams, applique, quilt binding, and sew on, I did teach myself.

However, this is what I did not teach myself: the appreciation of a precise seam allowance and straight seam.  The compulsion to clip every stray thread and present a smooth and finished product.  The desire to make beautiful, useful things.  The simplicity and usefulness of a beautifully-sewn flannel baby blanket.  How to thread a sewing machine.  How to use one of those little 6-inch rulers with the little piece that moves so you can measure hems precisely.

All of these things I learned at the side of my mother when I was very young.  I learned by observation and then from her diligent teaching.  She gave me the foundation of sewing knowledge on top of which I have built the skills that I use every day.  And sew you could say, I owe my love of sewing and my ability to  sew to my mother.

Sew today, on the occasion of your 60th birthday, I say to you, Priscilla Lorene Judge, my precious mother:

Thank you, thank you for raising me to love beauty, to love precision, to love sewing, to love gardening, to love kids, and to love the Lord.  I love you!

Happy Birthday!

This is also my belated, “Happy Mother’s Day” post!

And for all of you who are just about gagging on all the “sew” puns – my mother loves a good pun sew I figured she’d appreciate these.  Sew just don’t worry about it!