Quilting is the process of taking small pieces of colorful fabric and creating beautiful, functional blankets and wall hangings.

 

Quilting requires patience, color management and creativeness and most people who quilt take on a project of that magnitude and construct it over time, most times over months and  sometimes over years.

 

One such area quilter set out to complete six quilted projects for her family for this year’s Christmas holiday.

 

That quilter is Jenny Bjorlin of Becker Twp.

 

Jenny, 54, took up quilting after being inspired by her elderly grandmother who — back in 1993 — made Jenny and her husband, Dugan, a hand-sewn quilt for their wedding day present. Jenny’s grandmother loved to make quilts and did so all the way up until she passed away at the age of 96. She had 18 grandchildren and 33 great grandchildren.

 

Jenny, who first attended a quilt retreat at Lake Beauty in Long Prairie in 1991 after being inspired by her grandmother, is the only quilter in the family so far. On Christmas day in 2014, she asked her children, husband, boyfriends and in-laws (six) to pick out a design and color scheme for a quilt and she would make it for them for a special Christmas present.

 

“I wanted to try and make this Christmas a special one since adult kids can be harder to shop and buy for,” she said. “I wanted to do something I’d never done before.”

 

That gave her less than 365 days to complete six large quilts in time to give as presents at this year’s Christmas.

 

But little did she know, her husband had a big surprise for her on Christmas morning as well.

 

Jenny said as she laborously toiled over each quilt she was making, she would say prayers over the project and for the gift receiver. She didn’t tell anyone that she planned to write a special message to each quilt recipient explaining the process of making their quilt and the prayers she prayed over the year.

 

After each quilt was sewn together, Jenny would take the pieced-together fabric to Janet Peterson of Becker, who would “quilt” the blankets — a process of sewing the woven cloth top to a layer of batting to a woven back.

 

Jenny’s hard work paid off and come Christmas day of 2015, all six quilts were quilted and packaged with special note cards inside.

 

But that Christmas morning — to Jenny’s surprise — there were seven Christmas boxes instead of six.

 

“I had no idea but my husband had commissioned Janet to make me a quilt as well with colors and designs patterned after a beach photo we had hanging on our fridge,” Jenny said.

 

And after opening her present and seeing her gift, she noticed a note inside her box as well.

 

“The note was from Janet and she said she was privileged to have been commissioned by Dugan to make this quilt for me,” Jenny said. “I never even told Dugan I was going to put notes inside each of the six quilt boxes.”

 

The quilts were a big hit, each showing their unique designs and color schemes — original to the one who received it.

 

And Jenny keeps right on quilting, just as her grandmother had done in her many years of life on earth. She has made numerous full-size quilts as gifts for other family members and friends and has made several just for herself. She loves going to the quilt stores and finding new patterns, fabrics and techniques and has no plans on slowing down.

 

“I just love the challenge of piecing things together,” she said.

 

As an added twist, Jenny has introduced embroidery into a few of her projects after taking a class at Noble Quilts in Elk River. On her home living room wall is a majestic, geometric-shaped piece that integrates scenes of cottages, general stores and covered bridges — all embroidered with a variegated thread that makes the images “pop” from the snowy backgrounds.

 

Her daughter, Tiffany, was set to get married last year (Jason Baune) and she begged her mother to make her and her new husband a king-size quilt.

 

“She wanted it to look like waves of the ocean and all the colors of the sea,” said Jenny.

 

So she completed it and presented it to them for their wedding.

 

Jenny has made receiving blankets for babies and also made cross-stich Christmas stockings for her family members to hang on the mantel. She’s also considering making quilts for the Quilts of Valor foundation whose mission is to cover service members and veterans touched by war.

 

As if she isn’t busy enough, Jenny is also a bus driver for Becker schools and is a board member at the local StarCor Credit Union.

 

Making quilts and sharing her talents has brought Jenny many years of contentment  and she is pleased she can bless others with her creations. Her grandmother’s passion for the craft has been her life’s inspiration. 

 

Now she hopes she can inspire others.  

 

“Quilting, embroidery, cross-stiching — I’m always looking to try something new.”