What You Will Do For GrandChildren!!

A long, long time ago(about 31 to be exact)while I was expecting Daughter#2, I made a crib quilt. I took a piece of green and white baby check fabric, hand appliqued a white satin butterfly in one corner, put it together with a batting and lining, and hand quilted it using the checks as my guide. I didn't do a very good job, It wasn't a perfect retangle, but it worked. I don't remember D#2 being overly fond of the little quilt, and it eventually got passed down to her nephews.

They used it some and at some point the white satin butterfly came off from wear, leaving only the outer embroidery that held it in place. It got put in the closet at some point and forgotten for some years, and I don't know if P#1 used it or not, but P#2 fell in love with it and began calling it her snugley. She doesn't carry it everywhere she goes, but she sleeps with it every night.

At some point, it had to have some mending done, and I fixed a three cornered tear and reattached the binding, but I never took the time to repair the quilting that had come out, thinking it just wasn't worth the time it would take. WRONG!!!

P#2 brought said quilt(alias snugley) with her Friday night and after we ate, she insisted I fix it. I had been giving some thought to what I was going to do to fix it since the batting was in shreds, and you could put both the top and bottom together and still read newsprint through it. There's a scripture about putting new cloth in an old garment. Well, this just didn't seem worth any effort. Then I had what I thought would be a brilliant idea. At least in my mind it was brilliant.

First I set about taking the quilt apart. Didn't take much since most of the sewing had come out already. P#2 sat by my side and as I pulled out threads she would ask,'you aren't hurting it are you Memaw?'. I assured her I wasn't and took it completely apart by bedtime. She slept with the two pieces.

Saturday morning I dug around in my fabric stash and found some fabric and a baby quilt batting. I took the top and laid it face down on my bed, then I put a piece of yellow plisse`(spelling?) and laid it on top of the old top. Next I put a layer of batting, then a piece of white plisse` on top of that and finally the old lining which I could not get her to part with. Then I pinned the back up like it was before, and sewed all around. By the way, basting spray is a wonderful thing. It kept the quilt sandwich from moving around. As I sewed around the edge, P#2 removed the pins. Needless to say, this took a while.

Remember I told you about the butterfly. The white satin is long gone, but the outline remains. I used the free-motion embroidery foot, and sewed around it. Aren't you proud of me? I think, since you can't get too close to it, that it looks pretty good.

That helped get my courage up so I put a section of the quilt into one of my machine embroidery hoops and did some free-motion quilting. Again, since you can't examine it too closely, it looks pretty good.
She allowed me to do one more small spot before she pried it from my hands and went to the couch with it. As you can see, the quilt will live a while longer. Had she not taken it, I would probably have done a lot more. She says next time she comes, I can do more on it.

She said she'll keep bringing it for me to fix forever. I asked if she was planning to take it on her honeymoon, but she said she'd probably leave it at home. Below is one of the patches I put on. She picked the material and rickrack and was most impressed with my ability to fix it.
Isn't it wonderful they think you are sooooo smart when they are little. And who knows, her first child may love it as much as she does.

I hope you have a wonderful day. Pray for your loved ones. Love one another.