Gifting a Quilt

       When I had my first baby, I was sent a wonderful quilt that I continued to enjoy with my grandchildren. Quilts carry on and pass down through the years the loving touches sewn to connect the maker with the recipient.

        I was not a quilter, but wanted to make my first grandchild Hannah a quilt for the same reason.You want to sew/sow a connection. I made a quilt from "whole cloth" the imagery reflecting me and my hopes for fun w the grandchild. I had a sewing machine for straight stitches and felt I could tie knots to connect the back through the padding to the front. I looked up on the computer how to make a border.

         Erika received the same quilt with a changed border and background. It was with horror I wondered, "Did I make David, the third, a quilt as well?"  I couldn't imagine leaving him out. I found an old photo. His was made with two big pieces of polar fleece, the edges of which were cut and tied together. "Tie blankets" from fleece! So many color and theme choics in this cozy material. All instructions are online.

     My friend Alice came to visit, creating an over-the-top hostess gift with her quilting skills. She brought dolls for the littlel girls. The quilts we finished off together. They were a big hit with me and the children.

        Katie is always creating for her children and grands. Lately she asked for their favorite T shirts. She  pinned the blocks of images from the t-shirts onto muslin to keep them anchored while she joined them to the "lattice" between each block. She then joined each row of blocks with longer lattice pieces betwen each row and backed them with flannel instead of a light filling as I did. Very cozy!

Think about quilting some gifts for friends and you may get into sewing up some love full time!