first quilt second life
The very first quilt I ever ever made was in 2001. It was a baby blanket for the offspring of my good friends Danny and Alison. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, hacking squares and feeling my way along. But thoughts of the baby kept me working and hoping. After enlisting the help of my friend Nancy (story detailed here), I got it done and bestowed, then lovely Henry came and all was well with the world.
I don’t have a picture of that particular quilt with that particular baby, as I was not an obsessive life-documenter back then. However, since ’01 was the Year of the Infant, I had a chance to make a similar one not long after, for Al and Dewey’s little Pepper Rose:
Back to that first quilt. Time moved on. Henry stopped being a baby and, a few years ago, Alison joined the world famous band The Sippy Cups. Suddenly, the quilt found new life as padding inside her keyboard case. The quilt hit the road! Such exciting and unexpected new life for a humble little patchwork.
And then, a once in a lifetime opportunity. The Cups is a rock band for kids, and their stage show is fabulously circus-like. At a gig this summer, the giant flower prop broke! They had to jury-rig the stem, and find something to cover up the damage. So, guess what?
Quilt to the rescue! *breaks in to My Heart Will Go On*