Kids Can Quilt!

-Blueberry Fields Forever-

My 11yr old son's -Kids Can Quilt -entry for MQX.

Blueberry Fields is made entirely from scraps and he used a simple panto (Daisies) to quilt it.

The scraps are from dear Caroly's stash of fabrics. After Caroly's passing, her daughter, Susan, went through her fabrics and scraps. Knowing there was more than she could ever use in her lifetime, she began donating and giving her mom's stash away. Fellow Guild member, Glenda, (who BTW never lets a scrap pass through her fingertips), scarfed up a haul of fabrics. As Glenda sorted her new found treasure she found several orphan blocks that Caroly had pieced and left in scraps. Using the orphan blocks and additional scraps, Glenda pieced this top. She brought it to Guild to pass to another for quilting. I took the quilt.

Along came the ad for MQX kids entries. I talked to Thomas about entering a quilt, he liked the idea. And of course the notion of winning a prize, sealed the deal. However, we agreed - should he win anything, we would match the prize and donate it to a charity. We went through some of my UFOs and some of his and nothing really seemed appropriate. There wasn't going to be enough time to start from scratch - I piece at a snail's pace.... Then, we remembered the scrap quilt! We took it from the stack and opened it. The threads of the story all came together with the unfolding of the quilt. There, on the quilt, was blueberry fabric! This was going to be the quilt for his entry.

With fondness, Thomas remembers the sweet day we spent blueberry picking with Caroly, her daughter (my dear friend) Susan, Susan's daughter and her friend. It was a good day.

So, this quilt was quilted by Thomas. It was fun to watch him negotiate the loops and curves, and feel all the same things I felt when I did my first panto. And of course, there was that feeling of excitement when we took out the last pin from the canvas leader and the quilt was beautifully quilted!

I'm proud of Thomas and he is proud of himself. We call this quilt the Pay It Forward quilt. After the MQX show this quilt will be donated to comfort.

(not sure why the photos aren't posting...... drat. I'll have to check into that later.....)