Confession time: I’m nearly 30 years old and I love my blankie.
A few years ago, I decided I needed an old quilt. You know… one that was already broken in and soft and snuggly.
Almost every one of my mom’s sisters are quilters. You’d think I would have asked one of them for a hand me down. And where did I look? Ebay. Don’t ask me why.
But look what I found:
I don’t know who owned it before or when it was made or for whom or by whom. All I know is that this blanket needed to be snuggled by ME. It’s the perfect size. The perfect weight. Instead of being filled with batting that pills and makes quilts all bunchy after a few years, it’s got two layers of a thick gauzy cotton inside. The colors aren’t muted by any means, but the different patches have been washed together so many times, that they all seem the same shade of redyellowcomfyflowerypolkadotblueandgreen.
For the past five years, I’ve slept with it, clung to it while watching scary movies, drank hot cocoa with it, cried with it… basically, it’s one of the best relationships I’ve ever had.
We’ve been through a lot together.
But a few weeks ago, when Spaghetti the Puppy was all nested and curled up looking like an inky spot in the bright patches, she started chewing on a frayed end of my quilt.
I got really irritated. Afronted even! And started shouting “No! No! Bad Spaghetti!” (Which makes me sound like a whiney Italian toddler.)
And then I took a step back and realized that MOST of my quilt is one big frayed end. Of course she wanted to chew it. It looks like the rest of her toys that she’s demolished.
And then I started getting all panicky.
What happens if I fray this blanket so much that it ceases to exist? What will happen to me? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US?!?!
I seriously considered asking James to film a video montage of me and the quilt over the next few months. Just so I’d have something to remember it.
But. Instead of a video montage, I’ve decided to take a completely different approach.
In the spirit of being more creative and outputty (per my previous post) I’m going to TRY to make my own new quilt. And maybe one for my sister, too. I’ll use thick gauzy cotton to fill it and I’ll choose bright colors that will blend together into a pretty shade of comfy.
It won’t *replace* my blanket. (Like it has feelings I could hurt.) It’s just that, if I have the new one broken in enough, it’ll make the transition easier when this one goes
But first I need a sewing machine.
