I used Christmas vacation to work on some unfinished business. I started quilting many years ago before children were born. I did a few small projects and even started a larger sampler project. I finished all of the blocks and stopped. Life got busy and then kids were born. The quilting equipment came out briefly in 2007 to make Kaylee's baptism quilt and then went right back into storage.
During the brief 2007 appearance, my friend Anne came to teach me some tricks and gave me a binding lesson. I was more than grateful. Kaylee's quilt was a beautiful work of heart and I wanted it to look just right. Anne taught me what I needed to know and was very kind to help. I was staying up round the clock to finish the quilt and simultaneous take care of newborn Tavin.
Those quilting lessons have now come back into use. Tori is turning 8 and her quilt is finished and being quilted on a large machine. I'll post pictures when I get it back. Along with Tori's baptism quilt is the larger sample I started over 12 years ago. It didn't stop there. Using Anne's wonderful directions, I have now become a baby rag quilt maker and LOVE it. Kaylee and I just finished 2 quilts for Mike and Erin's twin girls and we have several more in progress.
I've been pondering many things lately. Maybe it's the fact that Tavin is now 3 and projects are once again enjoyable and rewarding. The ability to create something beautiful is once again relaxing and fun. Maybe it's the fact that our December 2009 family pictures showed more wrinkles than I really have. Both are a little unsettling. It means my children (and their parents) are getting older. For the first time in 11 years, I was the person at the primary activity without a younger child still at home. I didn't quite know what to do, for about 10 seconds. Then I started having fun watching. I don't spend time wishing them to stay little, but time certainly moves faster than I like. I'm grateful to be clearing the shelves of unfinished projects and I'm grateful for the insight (probably not my own) that made me shelve them to spend the last decade with the most entertaining and loving children in the world.
Maybe all of this pondering has been from the experience of creating Tori's quilt. I cried and reflected as I worked on Tori's quilt. I remember doing the same (probably more crying - remember the newborn) as I worked on Kaylee's. The tears are happy as I sew memories into her quilt and my heart.
Maybe I'll figure out the things I've been pondering, and maybe I won't. Right now I'm excited to see what memories and baptism quilts the next decade will bring. Maybe that will be enough time to figure it out.
During the brief 2007 appearance, my friend Anne came to teach me some tricks and gave me a binding lesson. I was more than grateful. Kaylee's quilt was a beautiful work of heart and I wanted it to look just right. Anne taught me what I needed to know and was very kind to help. I was staying up round the clock to finish the quilt and simultaneous take care of newborn Tavin.
Those quilting lessons have now come back into use. Tori is turning 8 and her quilt is finished and being quilted on a large machine. I'll post pictures when I get it back. Along with Tori's baptism quilt is the larger sample I started over 12 years ago. It didn't stop there. Using Anne's wonderful directions, I have now become a baby rag quilt maker and LOVE it. Kaylee and I just finished 2 quilts for Mike and Erin's twin girls and we have several more in progress.
I've been pondering many things lately. Maybe it's the fact that Tavin is now 3 and projects are once again enjoyable and rewarding. The ability to create something beautiful is once again relaxing and fun. Maybe it's the fact that our December 2009 family pictures showed more wrinkles than I really have. Both are a little unsettling. It means my children (and their parents) are getting older. For the first time in 11 years, I was the person at the primary activity without a younger child still at home. I didn't quite know what to do, for about 10 seconds. Then I started having fun watching. I don't spend time wishing them to stay little, but time certainly moves faster than I like. I'm grateful to be clearing the shelves of unfinished projects and I'm grateful for the insight (probably not my own) that made me shelve them to spend the last decade with the most entertaining and loving children in the world.
Maybe all of this pondering has been from the experience of creating Tori's quilt. I cried and reflected as I worked on Tori's quilt. I remember doing the same (probably more crying - remember the newborn) as I worked on Kaylee's. The tears are happy as I sew memories into her quilt and my heart.
Maybe I'll figure out the things I've been pondering, and maybe I won't. Right now I'm excited to see what memories and baptism quilts the next decade will bring. Maybe that will be enough time to figure it out.
When you make their baptism quilt, is it all white? What makes it a baptism quilt? Is it a keepsake or do they have them on their beds? Maybe you should/could post a picture.... :-)
ReplyDeleteI make the quilts based on a special memory I have of each child sometime when they are little. Kaylee's and Tori's are both different sizes and styles. I'll post pictures of both of them in a little while. I write a letter to them that explains the memory and it has become my special way of participating in their baptism. I call it a baptism quilt because part of the letter talks about the Holy Ghost's role as the comforter and I explain the analogy.
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