A Cowboy and His Blankie

I believe we are made in God's image and inside each of us is the desire to create. 

A Cowboy and His Blankie, it's a beautiful thing...

As you can see, my baby quilt is really a Toddler Quilt. They usually turn out that way because I am a slow quilter and I like to match the quilt fabric to the baby's family.  The parents and, sometimes grandparents, are my inspiration. I just go with my happy memories, plan, sort through fabric I already have, buy fabric that I want, and (eventually) create a quilt.  

X marks the spot.

For this quilt my inspiration came from a Dad in the Air Force and a Mom who loves her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. So airplanes and cowboys were my theme. There are a few cowgirls on this quilt, lots of horses and stars, and I even threw in some yellow fabric with flowers on it to remind Mom & Dad of their last vacation in Hawaii a few months before baby arrived.

Cowboys and Airplanes

I also believe God is generous and that we will only be happy when we are generous. Giving a quilt takes time, imagination, money, the willingness to work, the desire to complete a project -- when we create and then turn around and give away our creation we are really giving ourselves. Whether our creation is a meal, a garden, a home or a wonderful story we share with friends, you and I give a bit of ourselves and we are better for it. 

With my giving of this quilt I got hugs and thanks and a chance to see the cute smile of an 18 month old who had no clue what was going on. He did seem a bit fascinated that someone had left a blanket on the ground.   He did notice a cowboy - he called it a dog.

I'm still learning to machine quilt, it's much faster than the hand quilting I love, but for a quilt that will be washed often I think machine quilting is the way to go. 

It feels wonderful to finish a project.  Now, what's next on my list?