keeping them warm
I first learned to quilt when my children were young. We were living in Prince Rupert, BC, at the time, which can at times be damp and chilly and we all needed something to cuddle up under when reading books on the couch. My first quilts were made at the local sewing store, under the tutelage of the shop owner, and I used all my scrap fabrics, not realizing that people normally use fabric purchased at the quilt shop where the class is being held! The lady very graciously did not point out the error of my ways.
Those early quilts wore out years ago and since then, the cuddle quilts I’ve made have used both scraps and “store bought” fabrics, depending on what my goal for the quilt was. T-shirts make excellent backing for quilts and also commemorate summer camps, Girl Guide outings, triathlons, etc.
At age 14, our oldest daughter loved to snowboard, sing, and read. She was in the swim club, sang in the choir and celebrated her 14th birthday on her way to Japan with the Girl Guides.
Our son loves everything to do with turtles... and dinosaurs. I settled on turtles for his second quilt, once the first one was nothing but rags.
I did something different with our youngest daughter's quilt -- she got to choose the pattern and colours. I had fun with the stack and whack method, then personalized it with hand-stitched motifs that illustrate her interests.
