Adventures in Quilting, Part 2

I went to the quilt store today and got the batting to work on the quilt for my daughter.  Step 2.  Done.  So far I have washed the clothes and bought some quilting books and the batting.

Seeing the batting in hand, my daughter now sees this is going to be a real project.  Unlike the boy, she is teenager has opinions.  Strong ones.  I am debating how much input I should take from her.  On the one hand, I want her to like the quilt.  Or at least not hate it.  On the other hand, I would like some freedom and control over the project.  It also has be to something that can be accomplished within my skill and talent range, which right now, is fairly narrow.  My friend Diane wants to make a similar quilt for her daughter, but she plans to make a few practice quilts first, citing the finite amount of clothes her daughter wore as a young child.  While I think the practice quilt is a brilliant idea, I am not sure I will ever get anything done unless I plunge ahead.

I showed my daughter some pictures in the "Sunday Morning Quilts" book, and she showed me her favorites in another book.  We are getting close to having similar ideas about the style and layout.  No fancy star, hexagon or triangle patterns.  Yay!  I can't cut or sew straight, so the fewer seams I have to work with, the better.  I also don't want to use a protractor.  I studied math in college, not architecture.

I dug out the old clothes and started draping them about.  I picked up a scrap from a bright blue floral patterned dress that she wore twice a week in first and second grade.  She was beautiful and happy in that dress.  That dress is the reason I am making this quilt.  I could not stand to see her favorite clothes tossed aside.  I wanted her to remember it forever.

"I hate that fabric," she said.  "You aren't going to use that, are you?"

Um, yeah.  That was the point of this whole project.  With the boy, he wore t-shirts and shorts everyday, and he still does.  I made his t-shirt quilt with no fuss from him.  We picked out which of his too small shirts he wanted in the blanket, and he helped me cut them up.  The shirts are soft, the blanket is warm, and the memories are sweet.  He loves it.  What is not for him to love about it?

Then I realized these are her old clothes, as in former.  She is a teenager, and celebrating her preschool and early elementary years is not in her mind.  She doesn't want to admit that she was born or has parents, rather she sprang fully formed as the 8th graders she is now.  My mistake.  Which brings me back to wanting freedom and control. Which then begs the question:

Who is this blanket for, me or her?  For the boy, it was for him to use the day I finished the binding.  It is a bit more complicated with the girl.  I think I am making this for some future version of her, not the current model.  The future version where she will look at the quilt and think the dresses are soft, the blanket is warm, and the memories are sweet.