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The Sew What’s New Archive
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From: DorothyL
Date: 03-04-2005, 08:40 AM (1 of 5)
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Reading about all the things you make for others got me thinking. I make things for other people too, and sometimes wonder if they really do like them or just say they do. Then I think about my ugly quilt. This really is probably the worst made quilt ever. My friend Vickie made it for me many years ago and she had a big party for a bunch of women friends of ours to hand "quilt" it. None of them knew what they were doing. Some of the "quilting" stitches were an inch long -- none were even. Everyone stitched their name on it. The top was of several types of fibers, none preshrunk so after the first washing it was pulled in more ways than seems possible. And it has been washed many times in 25 years. There was no batting at all -- just a piece of flannel on the underside. It was beautiful!! It still is although I finally put it away because it is so worn that in some spots all the fabric has just disappeared. It has always been everyones blanket of choice (and there are plenty to choose from) for cuddling under -- even for my youngest daughter who never met Vickie. When the girls were sick they wanted that one on them. Even the young boy my husband mentors grabs that one when he is visiting. He just likes it best, he says. When I heard Vickie died last summer I sat with that thing and cried for days. So if you ever wonder -- yeah, people do appreciate what you make for them even if it isn't perfect. Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: shirleyp
Date: 03-04-2005, 09:58 PM (2 of 5)
| You are right. I made a quilt for my sister-in-law yrs ago and it finally fell apart. They used it constantly. Their children grew up with it and when they left she said it just was beyond any repair or worth saving. Around the same time I was painting benches and giving them for birthday gifts. My sister-in-law said she really liked them but would love to have a quilt for her birthday. Anything, no matter how ugly. I had one of my first ones that definately was not up to par. Hated to give it as a gift. Thought it wasn't good enough. She just about cried when I gave it to her. Yes, no matter how ugly it is, it is apprecitated. |
User: shirleyp
Member since: 02-12-2002 Total posts: 352 
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From: akire
Date: 03-18-2005, 07:41 AM (3 of 5)
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Reading your post makes me want to get back into the swing of quilting...I sort of hit a wall a year ago and haven't really done anything but finish a quilt that took forever (for my neice). My MIL is always asking what quilting I am up to...I think I should make her one. You are totally right..something made by hand, regardless of its appearance is the dearest thing in the world. I have started bags of baby clothes to make a quilt for my kids when they get a bit older...and perhaps its morbid...but I thought, if something happend to me, and they had this silly quilt, that would be nice. But it would be, wouldn't it. Thanks for that post. |
User: akire
Member since: 03-06-2001 Total posts: 61 |
From: esrun3
Date: 03-18-2005, 05:31 PM (4 of 5)
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Thank you Dorothy for posting this. All of you ladies have reminded me that I am my own worst critic and that people like what you have invested your time in to make for them. I must have ripped my grandson's birthday quilt out 5 different times because I didn't like the way the stitching looked. Even ripped one area so much I put a small hole in it-which thankfully was covered with the quilt label after fray checking it. My daughter tells me I'm way to critical of what I make but I want it to be perfect and it killed me to give my grandson his quilt with the errors in stitching that I did leave in. But.....I don't feel so bad anymore because I know he enjoys the bright colors in it, I have seen my older granson run for the quilt I made him that he leaves at my house and my granddaughter often drags hers around that has been made for her. So...thank you ladies for reminding me that it is the LOVE that goes into the project and NOT the PROJECT that is important!
Lyn
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User: esrun3
Member since: 12-02-2004 Total posts: 2345 |
From: Julia's Nana
Date: 03-21-2005, 08:29 AM (5 of 5)
| My mother's color sense was not so good and all of us just dreaded the afghans that she made because they never went with anything in our houses and were to "far out" to display. One year for Christmas she sent us one that was orchid and green and white. It was not me at all but it was a cold winter and went into use immediately. I have pictures of my kids on the couch wrapped up in it and one with my husband asleep with it thrown over him. Many years later when my daughter saw it one day she called it the "sick" quilt. I asked her what that meant and she said when she was growing up, she knew that she was "offically" sick if I dug out the purple afgan and her pillow and let her lay in the living room on the couch all day. My son laughed and said he always knew that I believed he was sick and not fakeing it if he got the afghan. It was not my taste but it holds many a memory for my entire family. |
User: Julia's Nana
Member since: 08-28-2001 Total posts: 361 |
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