In my family of origin, we have a rotation going for giving gifts at Christmas. The gift doesn't have to cost anything, but it hast to be valued at $20 (or more). If you want to spend more than that, that is your choice, but you can't expect anything more than a $20 gift.
This past Christmas, it was my turn to give to my brother Charles and his wife, Denise. Now I know I'm a little weird on this, but I think about Christmas gifts all year, so when Denise commented on my kids' fleece/flannel blankets and that she wanted one last January or February, I knew exactly what I was going to do. My daughter, Monica would be making Porter a crazy topped fleece/flannel blanket, I thought I'd do the same. I wouldn't have to buy anything more than what I already had - I'd even piece the back with left over strips from all the fleece movie blankets I've made.
Monica and I worked on the large crazy fleece squares and they took SO much longer than I had ever anticipated, and I put so much into it, that as I was finishing it up, I commented to my sister, Emerald, that it would be hard to give it up. She asked if Denise was expecting the crazy quilt. No, she didn't know what she was getting. She said that Denise would appreciate the work I did, but she her feelings wouldn't be hurt to have a different one. Did I have enough fabric to throw together another fleece/flannel blanket? Yeah. I felt guilty about that. (It doesn't take much to make me feel guilty). But the more I thought about it, the more the idea rang true.
So, starting at about 9:00 at night, I cut and pieced the top and trimmed the strips for the back. The second day, I put the whole thing together and quilted it.
Denise loved it and has on multiple occasions called me to tell me that she loves it. The first time, she called (maybe the day after she got it) and said she loved Andres' blanket. (She was in the process of an overseas adoption of a little deaf boy named Andres.) I said I was glad, but I didn't make it for Andres. I made it for her. If she wanted to share it with Andres when he came, that was up to her, but it wasn't made for him. A few days later she called me for another reason and again told me how much she loved it.
Pieced back above. Front fabrics below. The colors are off - that coral color should be pink and the bottom left should be a grape purple. Too much yellow in the photos.
Yes, she knows I started the other one for her, and no she doesn't mind. In fact, many of the flannel fabrics in her top were ones she gave me once upon a time.
Monica and I worked on the large crazy fleece squares and they took SO much longer than I had ever anticipated, and I put so much into it, that as I was finishing it up, I commented to my sister, Emerald, that it would be hard to give it up. She asked if Denise was expecting the crazy quilt. No, she didn't know what she was getting. She said that Denise would appreciate the work I did, but she her feelings wouldn't be hurt to have a different one. Did I have enough fabric to throw together another fleece/flannel blanket? Yeah. I felt guilty about that. (It doesn't take much to make me feel guilty). But the more I thought about it, the more the idea rang true.So, starting at about 9:00 at night, I cut and pieced the top and trimmed the strips for the back. The second day, I put the whole thing together and quilted it.Denise loved it and has on multiple occasions called me to tell me that she loves it. The first time, she called (maybe the day after she got it) and said she loved Andres' blanket. (She was in the process of an overseas adoption of a little deaf boy named Andres.) I said I was glad, but I didn't make it for Andres. I made it for her. If she wanted to share it with Andres when he came, that was up to her, but it wasn't made for him. A few days later she called me for another reason and again told me how much she loved it.
Yes, she knows I started the other one for her, and no she doesn't mind. In fact, many of the flannel fabrics in her top were ones she gave me once upon a time.
No comments:
Post a Comment