Jan sent me this essay she got published this week in the Missouri Star Quilt Company and I loved it so much I asked her if I could post it.
Makken, my grandson, was born in Qatar in 2012. I’d never been to Qatar, but I knew it was a hot, sandy, dry land. When I began piecing his baby quilt, my creative intention leaned toward sweet baby blues. But Makken entered my subconscious and led me toward greens of every hue and all the cool blues of the earth’s waters. He told me he needed the nurturing greens of lush plants, trees, shrubs and grasses and the life-sustaining rains and oceans and rivers that make their growth possible. And so I made his quilt, sewing love into every stitch, in greens and watery blues aplenty.
When he was just a few weeks old, I met him for the first time and gave him his quilt. He greeted it like an old friend, cooing, smiling and rolling around on it, wadding it up and stuffing green pastures in his tiny mouth. But it wasn’t just the quilt. Even as a baby, he had an instinctive appreciation for the sensual feel of good fabric. His fat little baby hands would grab the silk scarves I wore around my neck and he’d nuzzle, babble and wrap himself in the softness. He had an affinity for purples, so I bought a big floral silk scarf of many purples and wore it every day because I’m shameless and I knew silk was a Makken magnet. He could not resist and I basked in hours of baby love while he talked to my scarf and grabbed its folds, flipping the airy fabric like a fan and bubbling over with joy.
Makken is five now, in a pre-K program where they are required to take a nap every afternoon. The naps have been his bane. He hadn’t taken a nap since he was two years old. Each child must bring a napping blanket on Monday and on Friday, the blankets go home to mommy for laundering. Recently, his mom noticed his blanket was still clean at the end of the week. He said he left it in his cubby because it was too hot; the fabric felt itchy. He asked if, instead of the fleece blanket he had schlepped around all year, he could take his baby quilt to school. After the first day of napping on his beloved quilt, which usually is on his bed at home, he reported that the quilt was perfect, warm, not hot, and not itchy. What did you like best about it? we asked. He said, "It smelled like home." Is there a better argument for the joy of a handmade quilt?
Jan Schubert Norris
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| Jan with the new quilt in 2012 |
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| Makken today with the faded version that smells like home! |
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