A Quilt for Granddaddy

Granddaddy had a birthday party this past weekend, marking his 87th trip around the sun.

To make sure he felt warm and loved, we decided to make him what we were calling a 'lap quilt,' in that it's just about as wide as Granddaddy's chair, and just about as long as the bottom half of Granddaddy sitting in said chair, with a little slack to tuck around his feet.

Disclaimer: I am by no means a quilter, and some may even say this doesn't really qualify as a quilt, but since it started out as a bunch of fabric scraps and a piece of repurposed blanket, and it had to be pieced together, 'quilt' is all I know to call it! 

Since this project required no fancy sewing, incorporated no curvy shapes, and consisted of big ol' rectangles, it was right on my sewing level and came together in the better half of a day. The best part of it all was giving the kiddos some white cotton fabric and fabric markers and letting them design some of the quilt squares. They had a great time, and it was amazing to see what they came up with.

Top to bottom: "Stop Granddaddy" with 3 blue stop signs, Granddaddy in orange socks, and a happy bird, by
Audrey. "A Car and Letters" by Henry. "More Letters and an H" by Henry with Audrey's signature and heart.

Top to bottom: "A Kind and Friendly Monster" by Audrey. "Letters and Roads and Sissy's Monster" by Henry.

After the quilt was assembled, I was informed that it was missing one thing...

...apparently it wasn't good enough for Granddaddy until it was "infused with hugs, so every time he wears this quilt he feels hugs, too." That's right, she used the word 'infused.'

Awwwwwww. What a cheese ball.

This project has made Audrey excited about making art on fabric, and I'm hoping we can ride this wave and create a slipcover or something that will repurpose her favorite quilt which, by the way, is truly ugly. But we'll get to that soon enough.

Henry was so excited about his part in this quilt that he couldn't help but yell the minute he saw Granddaddy, "WE MADE YOU A QUILT!" Lucky for us, Granddaddy didn't hear him, and when he finally got to open our gift, I believe he was happy to have it. No doubt about it, though- both kiddos were happy to design it, happy to help make it, and happy to give it!