Thursday, October 12, 2006
 As soon as I found out we were having twins I decided I'd better get to work on making two more "crazy crawl quilts." That was several months ago. Last night I finally finished up the last one and feel very proud of myself for managing to make every single one of my kids a quilt, even if they're not nearly as nice as the quilts Lady or Grandma Henrichsen makes or as crafty as some of the things Miss Taffy has made.
Anyway, during General Conference weekend I was busy tying one of the quilts--not necessarily because I wanted to be on the floor, hunched over my ginormous belly tying a quilt, but because my sewing machine decided to go on the fritz and do a bad job of finishing up the last part of that particular quilt. So, in order to hold it all together I had to tie it. While I was working on the quilt, Hunter said he wanted ties on his quilt and an edge like the one I had done on Caleb's and the twins' quilts. With that suggestion I asked Hunter if he knew why I made Crazy Crawl Quilts for each of the kids and he said he didn't. So I told him. Ever since then I've been determined to finish the last two quilts and write down the story behind them, just so someday, when they all grow up and wonder why I made such ugly quilts for each of them, they'll know. So, with that, I present the last two quilts, which are finally complete and the tale behind them.
 You see, when Hunter was just a few months old we owned these plaid green and pink and cream colored couches. The pattern on them must have been fascinating to Hunter because he was always staring at it and cooing at it. Anyway, one day when Hunter was getting close to crawling I thought, "Hey! I wonder if I made a quilt with lots of contrasting patterns and designs on it and made it really long, if Hunter would like to crawl and play on it." I guess I thought the patterns would stimulate his little brain and give him a jump on being real smart. So, one day Hunter and I visited Wal-Mart's craft section. And I started holding bolts of material in front of his little carseat, to see what kind of reaction I'd get. Some material he'd just stare at like it was no big deal. And other bolts he'd coo and "a-goo" at, just like he did to the couch at home. Those bolts went into my cart. I bought nine different patterns that Hunter seemed to love and took them home, where I sewed all the strips together and formed them into the most simple, pathetic quilt you've ever seen. But when I laid it out on the floor, Hunter seemed to love it and that was all that mattered to me. It was the perfect length for blanket rides and Mark started rolling him up in the quilt till Hunter was a little worm baby and tickled him under his chin till he was laughing so hard he started turning red. Then Mark would set him down and unroll him, again sending Hunter into a fit of laughter. The game soon became known as "Little Bug" and Hunter would voluntarily lay himself down at one end and wait to be rolled up like a pig in a blanket. The blanket went everywhere Hunter went and pretty soon it was his special ble-ble. When we found out Noah was coming, instead of forcing Hunter to share his special ble-ble I decided I'd just make another, since it's such a simple thing to make. So I did. And another for Denver. And another for Caleb. And two more for the twins. All of them have some patterns that are exactly the same. And all of them have things about them that are unique. And in a way they're sort of symbolic of each of my children--the way they are all tied together by things they share and yet they are each unique and individual and so special to me in their own sweet ways. And so maybe they aren't the most gorgeous quilts, but they are special to my children and each of them know that I made them special for them because I love them and that's what makes them so nice to wrap up in at the end of the day. And now I'm thinking, since I love to torture myself with more projects, I might make Hunter a new one for his baptism, complete with ties and the edge that he wants. A family in our ward always gives their kids a new comforter on their baptism day and use it as a reminder that the Holy Ghost is also a comforter and a very special gift from Heavenly Father. I think it would be a nice gift, especially if I could finagle a way to get family members to each design a square for the quilt. Hmmmmm. . . guess I have some planning to do.
posted by Shana # 11:33 AM 
|
|
|
