Baby quilts

It all started many years ago, when I was a new, young cook at the place I worked for many years, finally leaving as the pastry chef to move to TN. But I was new, young and single, and one of the servers was throwing a shower for a very pregnant server. I didn't really know any of these people, but she invited the whole staff, and it sounded like a nice thing to do.

The only problem was that the mother was natural-everything extremist. She wanted only wool and cotton for her baby.

Now you can buy totally natural baby clothes from expensive catalogs, but not on what restaurant people make. So none of us gave her clothes. i used to visit the fabric store regularly, and found a woven, cotton remnant big enough for a crib sized comforter. It was a soft yellow, with little pastel geometric shapes. It was only the beginning.

My sister-in-law got pregnant, and I visited the same fabric store. I found two pretty flannel fabrics and both them both. The only problem was, i was newly pregnant myself, and was having trouble thinking straight. I bought the same size piece as I had for the first comforter, quite forgetting that if the two sides are different, I only need half as much of each.

Kendra and her cousin got matching comforters. Form there, I got creative. I had lots of remnants, and began piecing them together. It was the baby making time for so many friends, and they all got little quilts.

Meanwhile, the first children became toddlers, and the quilts, which are double thick and the perfect dragging size, became favored blankies. One child even named a turtle after me.

This is surely the last of my generation's quilts. My youngest cousin came from a second marriage, and is 10 1/2 years younger than me. His wife is younger than him, and they are having their first child, a girl. It's almost like we aren't the same generation anymore. My older daughter will be the godmother.

I imagine that the next quilt I do will be for the babies of one of my nieces or nephews, or maybe my own children's children. Come to think of it, my oldest nephew's wife is expecting.

The quilts have come a long way, but are still as comfy as ever.