Several weeks ago, I asked my grandmother to “repair” a quilt that my son has been using for years. Mamaw made the quilt (using her beautiful, evenly-spaced, tiny hand-stitches) more than 30 years ago and had given it to me when I got married. Until the time that I gave it to Chad, I had used it on my bed. To say that it has been well-loved is an understatement. When Chad first told me that he needed for mamaw to “sew up some holes,” he indicated that there were "a few of them." After mamaw had the quilt for a week, I asked about it and was told that there were a great many places that needed to be fixed and that just when she thought she had marked each of them, she’d find at least five more. It was communicated very clearly to 
me that what the quilt really needed was a whole new top, but she knew that Chad wouldn’t want that. She made a new quilt for him a few years ago, but he used it for less than a week and asked for his “blue quilt” because it was “already soft and perfect.” Working on the repair process, she actually found some of the original fabric in her stash to use for some of the patches and, when she had used all of it, had to find other fabric to finish the job. Bless her 91-year-old heart, she has worked so hard on this quilt (probably harder than when she made it the first time) cutting strips and other odd shapes—each cut being customized for the areas that were falling apart. When I visited a couple of weeks ago, she showed me all of the areas that had been patched and the others that were marked to be repaired, and I was embarrassingly surprised. I had no idea that this job I had handed to her was quite so huge! I so admire my mamaw . . . she is the sweetest, most loving, caring, talented woman that I know, and 
she is a hard worker! When Chad was about 9 or 10 years old, he summed it up perfectly when he said that, “Mamaw never gets mad or yells at us” (“us” referring to the grandchildren). If that isn’t a huge compliment, I don’t know what is! I am visiting mamaw tomorrow to pick up the quilt, and I am taking a box of necessities/treats to her. She would never accept money for all of the hours she has spent on the quilt (and I probably couldn’t afford it if she charged me), but I wanted to do something for her. I’m also sharing in this post the card that I made to accompany the box of goodies. The quilt-looking background was created using My Digital Studio. I used scallop square punch shapes, filled them with “Beau Chateau” digital designer paper, added Chocolate Chip stitching, and then printed the design to use on my card. Once printed, I cut it to size and embossed it with the Square Lattice embossing folder. Other Stampin’ Up! products used include Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, and Whisper White card stock, “Tiny Tags” stamp set, crochet flower (from the Clearance Rack), fabric-covered designer button (from the retired Sew Suite collection), vintage trinkets, Modern Label punch, and Crumb Cake taffeta ribbon.
me that what the quilt really needed was a whole new top, but she knew that Chad wouldn’t want that. She made a new quilt for him a few years ago, but he used it for less than a week and asked for his “blue quilt” because it was “already soft and perfect.” Working on the repair process, she actually found some of the original fabric in her stash to use for some of the patches and, when she had used all of it, had to find other fabric to finish the job. Bless her 91-year-old heart, she has worked so hard on this quilt (probably harder than when she made it the first time) cutting strips and other odd shapes—each cut being customized for the areas that were falling apart. When I visited a couple of weeks ago, she showed me all of the areas that had been patched and the others that were marked to be repaired, and I was embarrassingly surprised. I had no idea that this job I had handed to her was quite so huge! I so admire my mamaw . . . she is the sweetest, most loving, caring, talented woman that I know, and 
she is a hard worker! When Chad was about 9 or 10 years old, he summed it up perfectly when he said that, “Mamaw never gets mad or yells at us” (“us” referring to the grandchildren). If that isn’t a huge compliment, I don’t know what is! I am visiting mamaw tomorrow to pick up the quilt, and I am taking a box of necessities/treats to her. She would never accept money for all of the hours she has spent on the quilt (and I probably couldn’t afford it if she charged me), but I wanted to do something for her. I’m also sharing in this post the card that I made to accompany the box of goodies. The quilt-looking background was created using My Digital Studio. I used scallop square punch shapes, filled them with “Beau Chateau” digital designer paper, added Chocolate Chip stitching, and then printed the design to use on my card. Once printed, I cut it to size and embossed it with the Square Lattice embossing folder. Other Stampin’ Up! products used include Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, and Whisper White card stock, “Tiny Tags” stamp set, crochet flower (from the Clearance Rack), fabric-covered designer button (from the retired Sew Suite collection), vintage trinkets, Modern Label punch, and Crumb Cake taffeta ribbon.
1 comment:
What a thoughtful Grand-Daughter you are. She is sure to appreciate your card and gift. And you are right, the cost for the repair is priceless.
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