Once Upon a Quilt

Once upon a time, long long ago, like three years ago, I thought it would be a really great idea to make a baby quilt. I knew that I wanted to have children at some point and figured I would make a unisex quilt for the future. My generous husband had gotten me a nice sewing machine for Christmas, and I was anxious to try it out. I went to a genuine quilt fabric store in a cute little shopping village with K. and P. and had a jolly good time picking out fabrics. P. helped quite a bit b/c she legitimately knows how to sew and quilt. Even though I had no idea what all the little gadgets did on my sewing machine, and I stared ignorantly at the quilting mats, rulers, batting, etc., I felt pretty confident b/c this was not my first quilt rodeo.

The first quilt I ever made was when I was in third or fourth grade. I made it for my dog, Mickey. Mickey was a really adorable (and extremely patient) Yorkie. I remember painstakingly cutting out squares from old t-shirts and shorts and laying them out in a pattern for his blanket. I hand sewed the squares together (a real hatchet job). I remember being hunched over on my bed, biting on my tongue, feverishly working on Mickey's quilt. At one point I realized that I couldn't lift up the blanket anymore, and then I realized that I had sewn it to my bedspread as well as to my underwear. I had to practically start all over again. But Mickey was worth it. And every dog needs a quilt. Obviously.

Making the baby quilt was much easier b/c of the machine and P.'s expertise. A year went by and I had made a little progress, but I wasn't in any rush. I wasn't expecting and other things took up my time:  movies, books, going out to dinner, vacations, leisure time---all things that would go by the wayside once Baby C. showed up.

Fast forward to a week before Baby C. was born. I was a big nine months pregnant staring down at an unfinished baby quilt laid out on the floor. If there was ever a time to finish that quilt it was now. I turned to YouTube to figure out how to add batting, and bind and finish it. I remember spending hours crawling around on all fours trying to finish that stupid, stupid quilt with my large, 8.4 lb baby-containing stomach hanging down like a weight, almost touching the floor. I shed tears and blood finishing that quilt. My pregnancy-addled brain could not handle doing math or measuring anything. I was in a total fatigued fog. My husband spent several hours helping me, crawling around on the floor on all fours with me after I had yet another crying fit. I had mis-measured and cut my fabric incorrectly. There was no way I could deal and he had to take over. I remembered thinking at the time, this is really hard work. Between the cutting and crawling around, and getting up all the time to iron. How do old ladies do it? Quilting was more like a sport than a hobby.

The quilt was finally finished about three days before the baby was born. It guess it's more of a blanket than a quilt, since it's not quilted. Like Mickey's blanket, it was totally worth it. And it got used almost every single day for tummy time since Baby C. came home. It's not heirloom-worthy because of all the mistakes, but I'm pretty proud of it. And I'd actually like to make another quilt one day when I have a little more time. So, like in twenty years or so.

That is the story of my foray into sewing/ quilt-making. And we all lived happily ever after. The End.


*** Pillow Update

I'm still not done that darn pillow...I should have just gone with my first instinct and gotten rid of that no good yarn in the first place. It demands all of my time, sits on the couch like a log, offers no conversation. What about my needs?

I thought that that yarn would be "perfect" for a pillow, and what a great way to use up extra yarn. Well, it's not that perfect when you don't have enough of it. I just had to go out and buy another skein. I've been holed up in my house unable to go to the craft store b/c of a blizzard this past week which has caused a big delay in production.

Anyway, I hope to be finished it soon. I'm not making any promises though. Right now we're not talking to each other. And between you and me, it makes me sick to look at it. No good, lazy, good fer nuthin' yarn...