A Labor of Love...

This quilt top was made by my late grandfather or "Papaw" as my family called him.  He hand sewed the top.  The back was stained, so I rebound the quilt with new batting and attached a red binding and handstiched down the binding.  I was given the top last spring by my Nana before I started sewing.  I was frustrated at times trying to get it right, but, what quilt is perfect?  There's no need to look at the back right?!

Today I felt most touched by the connection between this quilt and my late grandfather.  He was a force to be reckoned with and was always making, fixing, planting, shelling, or creating something.  He made a quilt for my aunt and intended this quilt to be given to my father who was just recently married. Even though, my Papaw had a hard time expressing his love to my father at times, I hope that this quilt can be a testament of his love for him. He was a man of the great generation after all and nearly lost his whole ship to kamakazi planes while fighting in the Navy for our country.  I guess this is kind of the "aha" moment I had today about tokens of love in our relationships. We often give gifts but never express the meaning behind them, something I discuss in therapy from time to time. 

Often I think that we try to make or find the perfect gift but forget the reason we give things to people we love.  It is to show our caring, that is why crafting and quilting speak to me so much, it is such a personal connection I have with the item before I give it.  While I'm making something, I really think about the person I'm giving it to, especially my family who is farther way from me than ever before. I have always struggled with wanting things to look perfect, which makes me lose sight of my original goal of expressing caring to those I love.  I'm hoping that this is the connection my Papaw had with this quilt when making it for my father. And even though he never met his new wife Jonquil, it is now a gift to bless their new union as husband and wife. 

This project also started my quilting journey and I am so grateful to my Papaw who started it, I felt your presence around me today as I stitched next to your work.  May God keep you until we meet again.