A Playtime Project: The Memory Quilt -

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A Playtime Project: The Memory Quilt

A Playtime Project: The Memory Quilt

A friend recently suggested a use for my daughter's first wardrobe, which I've dutifully saved in the back of the closet, and lugged on two long distance relocations. Turns out she's done the same thing with her daughter's first clothes, and we've decided to make memory quilts. This playtime project preserves my little girl's everyday playclothes for no other reason than that they are hers.

Having been raised in a somewhat non-sentimental household, I jumped at the chance to engage in something that could possibly boost child emotional development at the same time that it provided a way for my daughter to feel connected to happy childhood events. I suppose it's my way of compensating for something I always wished I had. By the time I was born, the fascination with baby girls was past, and whatever I used and wore was handed off to Goodwill when I was finished with it.

The project lets you conserve storage space by cutting those favorite 0-3 month outfits into workable squares-or if you're an experienced quilter, you may feel confident experimenting with different shapes. I've never tried this before, so I don't want to complicate it with my perfectionist tendencies. I want to turn this into something we can do with our daughters-it always surprises me how young children can take to things that we assume are beyond them.

I went through the clothes to separate them according to "cuttability." Fearful of violating airline luggage allowances, and mindful of movers' square footage guidelines, I've unwittingly reduced the cherished collection little by little; this last relocation I was so desperate to conform to the rules that I left behind many of the pieces I had faithfully saved. Our having been in the Caribbean this past hurricane season further persuaded me to fork over even more of the little wardrobe to children whose homes (and wardrobes) had been destroyed. The pieces that remain are so few in number that I find I cannot bear to take the scissors to any of them.

And so the playtime project will consist less of quilting, and more of time spent sitting on the floor, arranging tiny high-tops, Mary Janes and workboots into shadow boxes. There's also the first jean jacket, overalls and the dress Little One wore to "school" when she was four months old. All of these are small enough to pass for doll clothes, and therein lies their preciousness. The rest are tiny crew neck sweaters, a little rain slicker, and the pajamas she wore in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit. These, with selected Boston Globe front pages will go into a trunk alongside the baby book (volumes I and II), the photo albums of the first years, and The Scrapbook; to be opened with great fanfare on some birthday after "we" have reached the Age of Appreciability.

Tricia Wellington

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://newsticker.welt.de/index.php%3Fchannel%3Dfin%26module%3Dsmarthouse%26id%3D792264cid=1256238513ei=eHbySMv7KKXg6gOrzK2jAQusg=AFQjCNH_MZ7Zxm1-9y1tRHR2U1dpiC4o4AWeingarten Realty Announces bHobby/b Lobby Joins Perimeter Village b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWELT ONLINE,nbsp;Germanynbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The operation, now known as bHobby/b Lobby Creative Center is no longer just an arts and bcrafts/b store. With departments ranging from bcrafts/b, bhobbies/b, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/4420371cid=0ei=eHbySMv7KKXg6gOrzK2jAQusg=AFQjCNGQArseQkL8LauZIE4NKLuFMqDK0QBusiness Brief/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCuyahoga Falls News Press,nbsp;OHnbsp;-/font nobrSep 22, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1bHobby/b Lobby will offer bcrafts/b, bhobbies/b, picture framing, jewelry making, fashion fabrics, floral, scrapbooking, cards and party, baskets, wearable art, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.gainesville.com/article/20081007/NEWS/810070231/-1/MAGAZINE%3FTitle%3DTight_budgets_bring_back_useful_hobbiescid=0ei=eHbySMv7KKXg6gOrzK2jAQusg=AFQjCNGIysVKrUHlvCMUAdqajUXPEOxW4QTight budgets bring back useful bhobbies/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fGainesville Sun,nbsp;FLnbsp;-/font nobrOct 7, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b back to simple pleasures — as well as the potential to save money in hard times — seems to be driving a resurgence of bcrafts/b and do-it-yourself bhobbies/b. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20080915/NEWS01/80915012/1002/NEWScid=0ei=eHbySMv7KKXg6gOrzK2jAQusg=AFQjCNF0n1xuTNC5p2u_ziErIT6UFeHmiwNew bcraft/b and bhobby/b store opens in Webster/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fRochester Democrat and Chronicle,nbsp;NYnbsp;-/font nobrSep 15, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1In addition to the regular items available at most bcraft/b and bhobby/b stores, Mong said, bHobby/b Lobby also carries some furniture and a large seasonal inventory b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.dailyherald.com/story/%3Fid%3D241359%26src%3D3cid=1256044131ei=eHbySMv7KKXg6gOrzK2jAQusg=AFQjCNGfnI6wdNl0q2Vpc6yi-ebj-P4B4QLake Co. clubs and bhobbies/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fChicago Daily Herald,nbsp;ILnbsp;-/font nobrOct 9, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Please put quot;Clubs amp; bhobbies/bquot; in the subject line. Lake County Opera Meetup Group: Noon Saturday, Oct. 11, Regal Lincolnshire 20 Theatre, 300 Parkway Drive, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%2520News/1923911/cid=0ei=eHbySMv7KKXg6gOrzK2jAQusg=AFQjCNFA_KM5KUbiAJ4KJZQWcoQtk4afVgbHobby/b shop owner serious about success/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTrading Markets (press release),nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobrOct 6, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The store did well, selling his wife#39;s jewelry, his artwork and other bcrafts/b, until the first casino opened in Connecticut. Suddenly, quot;the spiritual Native b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.elburnherald.com/features2008/hobbytime1003.aspcid=0ei=eHbySMv7KKXg6gOrzK2jAQusg=AFQjCNGzJE1XsJXMFCMzQGsxO1IozvluNgA bhobby/b … good for you by definition/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fElburn Herald,nbsp;ILnbsp;-/font nobrSep 26, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1“There really is a lot to choose from, for any interest, but we have three aisles alone dedicated just to juvenile bcrafts/b.” He said with a little effort, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.studentnewspaper.org/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D84:the-sims-2-freetime%26catid%3D44:technology%26Itemid%3D62cid=0ei=eHbySMv7KKXg6gOrzK2jAQusg=AFQjCNHtIsaK8QgIyREYqvKN9PLfS-QYjQThe Sims 2: Freetime/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fStudent Newspaper,nbsp;UKnbsp;-/font nobrOct 1, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Arts amp; bCrafts/b, Tinkering and Cuisine are just a few of the bhobbies/b that can be explored. For example if your Sim is a budding Gordon Ramsay, enthusiasm will b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.lawrencecountyjournal.com/articles/2008/10/10/lawerence_county/headlines/doc48ebdb13bbcaf640723766.txtcid=0ei=eHbySMv7KKXg6gOrzK2jAQusg=AFQjCNEkWkJuURXjVgZ7HPNtaTXGSU-nwQNational 4-H Week observed/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fLawrence County Journal,nbsp;KSnbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1My favorite projects are shooting sports, wildlife and fisheries, bhobbies/b and collections, showing cattle and sheep.” Matthew Peterson, 9, has been enrolled b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.sundayherald.com/arts/arts/display.var.2457158.0.0.phpcid=0ei=eHbySMv7KKXg6gOrzK2jAQusg=AFQjCNHiv-aOJ1PMR3w_F2BjK4Hh-YHbXQON THE ROAD: Roddy Woomble/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSunday Herald,nbsp;UKnbsp;-/font nobrOct 4, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1I make a mental note to never inflict this on my own children, even if their bhobbies/b turn out to be tiling and plastering. Luckily my wife, who comes from a b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

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A Playtime Project: The Memory Quilt

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