Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Quilt

When I was a kid, my mom and I liked to read Nancy Drew together. I'd crawl into dad's side of the bed, he was usually playing around in his garage or watching a movie, and we'd take turns reading chapters. On my mom's turn, I would listen along while I 'quilted'. Mom gave me leftover scraps of fabric which I kept in a bag, and when we read, I would sift through my bag and look for my next quilt square. I was just a kid and really had no idea what I was doing, so my squares were just cut out with regular scissors and hand stitched together. The squares weren't even very square or even the same size so my 'quilt' looked a bit wonky. Over a bit of time, I had a small, long rectangle that looked like a table runner made by a cat.

Eventually our reading time dwindled away and my bag of fabric and 'quilt' went into my closet where it lay hidden away with other childhood bits and bobs. One May, in my teen years, I came up with something very special. I pulled out my old fabric bag and stitched and stuffed my homely little quilt into a pillow. I'll never forget how much it meant to mom when she unwrapped it for Mother's Day. She used to sleep with it and I think she had to stop as it began to fall apart. Hopefully I can stitch it back together for her sometime and maybe we can read Nancy Drew again.

I can't wait to see my mom when we go back to Washington in June for three weeks this year.


I get a lot of my humor from my mom and this photo was one of our random outbursts of oddness. We had a kitchen duel! It's not my mom's birthday or anything, I just am blessed that our parents have pulled their money to buy us tickets to go back to America and am thinking about all the family that I won't have seen in over two years.

9 comments:

  1. Your mom is a hoot, as she would say. I feel bad cause I haven't made it up there in a long time. I love your family and how wonky you are. :)

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  2. I'm so glad you'll get to see your family.

    Love,
    Janie

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  3. First, I'm so excited that you get to go back to the states to visit family. I can't believe you've been away for 2 years! Wow!

    Second, Peanut is totally into Nancy Drew right now! She's blowing thru the books at record pace. My sister has her collection of ND's from our childhood and she's mailing them to us. I'm so excited to get them.

    Third, the quilt sounds awesome, wonky or not! :)

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  4. That quilt/pillow must have meant so much to your mom!!

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  5. Happy memories Maggie. Great that you are going home for a visit. Enjoy! - Dave

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  6. Awww this made my heart melt. I was read to at night as well only it was the Anne of Green Gables stories or C.S. Lewis and his Narnia tales. I LOVED it.

    That picture is awesome and I hope you'll tell us all about your June trip.

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  7. What a wonderful mother! I might adopt the Nancy Drew/Quilt-time idea and use it with my own kids. This is a beautiful idea.

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Does this straitjacket make my butt look big?