As I have read different blogs online and talked with various people on etsy, twitter, quilter's club of america, facebook and similar sights I have learned that there are all sorts of memory quilts. There are the type where you use photos and old clothes. There are the types that you spend so much time on that they become a part of you over the years and it is somewhat bittersweet when you finish the quilt. For me, I think that a memory quilt can be anything with which I can associate any strong memories. The following quilt made me think about this when I went to bed last night and I was putting the blanket back on the bed so I could stay warm.
This tie quilt was probably the first thing that I made when Russ and I first got married. In fact I also made Russ a dark green and black one, but I simply don't know where that is. I think that it must be in a box out in our storage unit because I could not find it in the boxes here at our apartment. I remember going to the fabric store in Las Vegas with my in-laws and Russ. We had just been to a sporting goods store that was going out of business to see if they were selling the racks that the store used to hang things on. I remember sitting on the floor at my in-laws tieing it for a whole day on their newly tiled floor. It was one of the only three Christmas's that we actually have spent in Vegas. It has been hard to visit for holidays since Russ got on at the post office because his co-worker always takes the day before and after a holiday off and he is the sub that has to work for her. I remember my hand cramping because I was trying to finish them that day so I would not have to bring them home to work on them. I remember my brother-in-law asking me for the first and certainly not the last time why I would spend so much time working on a project like that. I told him that it makes me happy and it is fun and relaxing. That is why I do any craft.
(By the way for anyone that does not know how to make this kind of quilt you simply line up a front and a back. I made this out of fleece. Then you cut slits in the side fabric and you make a square knot. It is super easy and fun and only requires fabric and scissors.)Now I use it on my bed as a second layer under the comforter to keep me warm. Russ could sleep with a sheet on almost all year long and no other layers, and yet it is nearly summer and I am still sleeping under multiple layers. Until we got new quilts and blankets in the living room, I would always get it out to stay warm while I read a book or watched a movie.
When we were first married, before I let Russ put a TV in our bedroom, he would fall asleep on the couch a lot watching TV and I would go and put his blanket on him in the middle of the night and turn off the TV. After that I let him put a TV in our bedroom, but he can watch for no longer than 45 minutes and the timer on the TV must be on so it turns off after we are asleep. He is so much better about it now that he rarely uses the TV in the bedroom and always gets to bed after watching a show.
It may seem crazy that such a quilt seems to important to me, but it is important. I have the worst memory ever. Unless I write something down, I don't remember a lot of memories. So, to have a memory about making it, and where it has been since is nice. Off course it shows me that my fascination with butterflies is not just a passing whimsy now since 4 years ago I was already fascinated with them.
Well, hope that you enjoyed my ramblings. Until next time.
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