Quiltin' Nana

Have scraps. Will quilt.

This nana loves to quilt. Let me clarify that. I love to make BABY quilts. I've tried bigger ones, and the rows go all weird. I love sleeping with big, beautiful quilts that others have created. But the ones I make are for babies - les bebes. There is no way of telling how many quilts I have pieced over the years. The reports from new mommies confirm that babies love cotton, colorful, washable quilts. While I don't have time to do intricate, age-old quilt designs, I've found that patchwork patterns thrill new parents and their precious ones just as much. At least, that's what I tell myself as I give them as gifts. :)

This Quantrell nana's quest to quilt for queues of bebes began when the quantrell babies were very young (trying to see how many times I can use 'qu' in a sentence). I discovered a delightful patchwork quilt, with no less, and I am not exaggerating, close to two hundred tiny squares. The quilt was sized for a baby. Wise choice on the part of the seamstress, or she could well be still sewing on that quilt. Each quilt piece is about 1" x 2" long. I still have the quilt, but it is lost in storage with all of my other quilts. I loved how my babies stared intently at the colorful pieces as they lay on the quilt. I draped it over the back of the couch, the car seat, the crib...focal point deluxe. I especially enjoyed that I could throw the soiled (now honestly, babies never make a mess, do they, of one kind or another?) quilt in the wash. It always came out softer and more comfortable than before the soaking. It is easy to choose a theme and colors based on the sex of the baby or parents' interest or a large collection of a certain fabric color (justification to save every piece of fabric that passes through my fingers).

So, determined to recreate this piece of wonder, I made quilts for both of my babies. And then I started making quilts for other babies of friends, relatives, acquaintances, door prizes, shower gifts, auction pieces...I really would like to know how many I have made in all. My baby-baby is 18 1/2. Making quilts since she was 1 or 2, several, if not over a dozen, a year...that adds up to quite a few. My list this year is getting longer all the time. Quilting my way through it piece by piece.

I recently added embroidery to my grandbaby's quilt. We will never forget his birthday, weight, time and year of birth, or his name. With love, bebe, from the Quiltin' Quantrell.