Carter's Quilt

Can a fourteen month old toddler appreciate a handmade quilt stitched with love just for him? I would have said, “No”. After all, he’s just a little fellow. What would he know of hours and hours of tedious cutting and piecing, just for starters? Then, down on the floor, laying out the backing and strategically placing the batting on top and making sure there are no wrinkles and covering the backing completely. Next came placing the precious top, the main focus of the project for already countless hours, in its rightful place. By the time all this is done I can’t tell if my knees or my butt are hurting more! But that’s not the end of the “floor work”. Pinning all of it together so that the quilt won’t shift when I put it under the sewing machine is an equally ‘butt and knee’ burner!
Ok, all three layers of the quilt are finally pinned together, neat and tidy, waiting for its day (I mean days) under the needle. But I think I need to rest awhile first!
So, many school days have come and gone. I’m too tired at the end of the day to work on the quilt. So there it lies, folded, on top of the machine. But it keeps calling to me! “I know you’re tired!” it says. “But I’m ready to go home with Carter and play!” So, I drag my weary body over to the machine and get going. “Only thirty minutes,” I convince myself. As the motor whirs away, so does my weariness. There’s something therapeutic about watching the number of small stitches appearing and multiplying row by row on the quilt. My soul could keep on and on, but tomorrow’s another school day, and my bed is calling my body to rest.
Night after night, the quilt calls to me. Night after night, I rest my mind at the machine, then to my bed to rest. Block by block, the straight lines of stitching interlock all the layers of love together. Finally, the day comes that all the blocks are stitched. Next, the sashing has to be stitched, except this stitching will be done in stippling. Stippling is a free-motion type of quilting and lots of fun to do. Instead of the tedious and precise straight line stitching, this stitching allows my hands to follow my imagination. How delightful!
The day finally arrives when all the quilting is done and all that is left is the binding around the edge. This is the final step. It won’t be long now. Carter will come and Grandmama will give him his love gift!
Now you be the judge. Can a toddler appreciate a special handmade gift?

"Thank you, Grandmama."


Charity called about two nights ago and said that Carter had pulled his quilt down from the rocking chair onto the floor. He got on top of it and was loving on it by hugging it and kissing the pictures on it. He's such a sweetheart!

Update:  She recently got a video of him loving on his quilt.  The link is below.  (Just copy and paste it into your address bar.) I hope you enjoy it!


www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJLDMC-piek