Last year I posted pictures of some of the quilts I’ve made. Recently, while decluttering, I found a couple of little quilts I’d forgotten about.

I made this doll quilt for our daughter Katie’s third birthday–in May of 1992. I don’t know what she wrapped up in it, but it left a rusty stain that I haven’t been able to get out, not even with Fels Naptha soap or with bleach.

I made this one for our daughter Erin’s Christmas present in 1994. She used it for her American Girl doll, Kirsten.

We didn’t have a lot of money in those days, when we were raising our five kids on Greg’s teaching salary. But I always had odds and ends of fabric, because I made some of the kid’s and my clothes, and curtains for the house. Sometimes my daughters brought doll quilts as their presents for birthday parties.

When I started working for a paycheck after twenty years as a full-time mom, I didn’t have time or energy for quilting, so it fell by the wayside. I missed it, though.

Last summer we switched churches, and, to my delight, I discovered I knew one person in my new congregation–a mom I’d shared Girl Scout obligations with when our girls were young. And guess what activity we’d done with our scouts: quilting. But Kathy, unlike me, had never stopped quilting.

“We have a quilting group here on the first and third Saturdays of every month,” she told me. “You should come. We make quilts for the Crisis Pregnancy Center, and for baptisms, and comfort quilts.”

I thanked her for the invitation, because I’d really wanted to get back into quilting, but I kept forgetting, so months went by before I actually showed up. But I finally made it, and I’m so happy. I’d forgotten how to do some things, but it’s coming back. I’ve made two baby quilts so far, and started a third.

Twice a year, the quilts are dedicated at a Sunday service, and then they’re distributed in the community.

The next little quilt I’m making is red, white, and blue, and it’s still a work in progress.