The Mental Quilt

In August when my mom was here she began a project with Carter who is 10. He wanted to learn how to sew. Mom is always patient and kind and smart, so I was happy to have her teach him. I was thinking more along the lines of bean bags, she thought a quilt would be the easiest for repetitive straight stitch sewing. She bought the fabric, a print, a solid and batting, stayed up late cutting all the squares and got him started! He was to put batting in between the print and solid and basically sew an X, then when they were all sewn together there was to be about 1/4-1/2" for the frayed look on the back.

Before we knew it time had run out and they had to go back home. Carter knew how to sew the squares together and then I would need to help with the rows and the binding. I was all for the quilt making until I realized I had to see it completed under my direction! Yikes! After my mom left, we would take it out and Carter would sew a few rows and then move on to something else. The process kept dragging on, and I feared it would never be complete!

So, there it sat, for over a month, in my bedroom, staring me in the face every morning, and every night. My mental quilt. It was going to be so amazing when it finally got done and I was determined to do it! This past Mon it was cold and rainy and I sent the school kids off and settled in for the long haul! I was able to get all 14 rows of 12 squares sewn and together, making sure to leave the last 2 rows for Carter to complete. Rick was great and picked up more thread and the bias tape to finish it off!

I was so thrilled with each stitch as I got closer and closer to being done. The other great joy I felt was knowing this would be Carter's "ta-da" moment, so I wasn't critical of any mistakes I made, because I was essentially helping a 10 yr old finish "his" project!

So here it is, the quilt that took hours to sew and a month of mental attention! Carter loves it, and it is special to me because it was something he did with my mom and I was able to be a part of!