Patching “Blankie”
“I’m patching patches!” exclaimed my daughter.
She was repairing the quilt or “blankie” I made for her son when he was born 13 years ago. It was crib blanket size in rail fence design. The colors were predominately green and yellow.
I recall, as we waited for Alex to arrive, his 4-year old sister Kara and I sat on their living room floor tying the quilt. “Getting it ready for baby,” we said.
Daughter Beth used this for him from the time he arrived home from the hospital. The quilt has followed Alex wherever he’s gone. When it began to wear, Beth appliqued over the worn spots trucks and animals, candy bars, and other images cut from fabric.
Now, in order to preserve the “blankie,” Beth is appliquing over worn spots in the appliqued patches.
Do you have favorite “blankies” or quilts in your family?
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
Tags: baby blankets, baby quilts, Mary Emma Allen, patchwork, quilters, quilting, Quilting and Patchwork, quiltsRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Potpourri
4 opinions for Patching “Blankie”
Coralie Johnson
Oct 19, 2008 at 7:57 am
I’ve made many blankies for the children and grandchildren but the quilt I remember with nostalgia from my childhood is the one my mother (who was not a quilter) made for my sister and me. She had “inherited” several old suits from my uncle which had been languishing in an old trunk. Winter was coming to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and it was getting mighty cold. So my mother cut those old brown and grey suits into squares, zipped them together on her sewing machine, added a blanket backing and tied them with red yarn. My sister and I were warm throughout that long winter!
Brenda Ackerman
Oct 19, 2008 at 8:50 pm
My daughter, who is now 22, still sleeps with her baby blanket that her Grandma and Great Grandmother made for her. I have patched it, sewn the ripped spots, recovered it two times. It is really in bad shape once again, only she refuses to let me fix it in any way. I do believe she will chose to be buried with her dear quilt/blankie.
Mary Emma Allen
Oct 19, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Thank you for sharing, Coralie. What a wonderful blanket your mother made for you and your sister. And what precious memories because of it.
Mary Emma Allen
Oct 19, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Thank you, too, Brenda, for telling us about your daughter’s “blankie.” I’ll let my daughter know that other blankies get loved and worn, too.
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