Yes-sir-rue-nee! I finally dabbled in the “quilting” arena of crafting and I have to say, it came out pretty nice.

 I was actually afraid to do this quilt because there was such a touching story behind it and I couldn’t accept even the smallest mistake on my part.

 Let’s back up a minute; a dear family friend confronted me a few months back about a possible project for a quilt, secretly, that was to be given as a gift to her granddaughter for her birthday. The actual embroidered squares were hand made many years prior from the lady’s mother (the little girl’s great grandmother). I was somewhat confident that I could do it, but there was a little part of me that was scared S***less. I was just afraid I’d mess it up somehow, but I went ahead and accepted the job anyways- happily.

It took me about five days to pre-cut strips, sew each square together and hand sew the back border to the face of the quilt. I also darned the quilt at every corner of each square and every few inches along the border so that the batting was 100% secure.

When it was time for her to pick up the quilt I became very nervous. I felt I had done a good job and I was reassured by another dear friend of mine that it was beautiful, but, I was still nervous about what she would think- after all; it was her mother’s initial work and it meant so much to her already.

A few days later we were invited to the little girls 6^th birthday party. Now, remember, this was a secret; not even the mother of the little girl (the ladies daughter) knew of the gift they were about to open. It was requested before hand, by the grandmother, that this particular gift was to be opened last. I have to say, when it was time for that gift, all eyes were on the little girl. Well, they were also on the little girl’s mother because it was her grandmother that made the squares so long ago. Let me just say, tears were shed and emotional levels were high when that gift was opened.  You see, the great-grandmother is still alive, but she fell ill about a year ago and is now requires 24 hour care. Because of this, she could not be at the party nor was she able to finish this quilt herself.

So, although her great grandmother couldn’t be at the party to see the joys that her work brought, it was beautiful to see such a deep feeling of delight coming from everyone around. I felt so happy to have been a part of something this beautiful.

So tell me, have you ever made anything crafty that brought great joy to someone else? Or; have you ever received a handmade gift from someone that could never be replaced-ever?