The Quilting Bee

Search

I was trying to think of a topic for today’s blog – and not having an easy time. Really, there’s only so much you can say about poop. Suddenly, I realized this is an awesome thing. I don’t have a post at the ready because things are currently going well.

The boys are eating, sleeping, pooping regularly. Their eyes are open more often as they stare around the NICU, just taking it all in. Destroy has found his voice; he now screams at the nurses to remind them it’s snack time. Search is only a day or two away from three pounds. None of this leads to clever or emotional stories; it just makes me smile.

Perhaps they’re growing up. Or perhaps Gramma J was on to something with her quilts.

The week after the muppets arrival, my mom came up to visit. She still hasn’t been able to meet her grandsons, but a mom is a mom forever and she’d come to make sure my emotional state remained stable. I decided they needed new blankets (remember I previously noted they had fleece blankets with surfers and John Deere tractors covering their isolettes). And a homemade quilt from Gramma would be something they could treasure forever. My brother and I still have the little elephant quilts Mom made for us when we joined the family.

Destroy

After my morning NICU visit, off we went to the fabric store. I was on a mission. I think Mom was just humoring me. Apparently, baby quilts aren’t that popular. There were approximately three options in the 5,000+ pages of patterns. Luckily Mom found a simple quilting magazine.

Out next challenge was to find the right fabric. Much easier said than done… 1) I have boys. I do not want pink dolls or frilly fabric. 2) What is with the amount of John Deere fabrics?! Thankfully, I asked Yahoo! about my dilemma and it shared some info on a local quilting store.

We started riffling through all the fun patterns. Girly, girly, John Deere, girly, John Deere… I found a very cute jungle animal print. Mom vetoed it on the grounds not everything needed to match the nursery. (I don’t see why not. The nursery is exceedingly adorable.) Finally, I found a puppy design with a blue, green and red checkered background. I also pulled out a pattern with dogs, trucks, baseball gloves and footballs. Perfect for my two little boys.

Nope. Vetoed. On the grounds that “those are for boys.” (I am not making this up.) I paused, concerned that the transition to grandmotherhood affected the frontal lobe. Granted, she was there to support me – her daughter – but she has two grandsons. No no, I was informed we were on the hunt for baby fabrics. They’ll have enough time to be boys later.

Suddenly, the educator within emerged. She’d found the school pattern section. Shortly thereafter, we departed the quilting store – appropriate baby fabrics in tow. My mom must have remained behind. Because when we got back to the house, only Gramma was with me. She set about designing and creating the world’s cutest quilts – they only appropriate kind for her grandkids.

They’re LEARNING quilts. It’s never too early to start. The muppets now have a head start over all their NICU peers.

For Search, my little squirming inchworm who doesn’t take kindly to swaddling confinement, Gramma found a pale blue fabric featuring the nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle.” It has pictures of the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumping over the moon, dishes running away with a spoon, and rocking horses.

The backing is blue with moons and stars. It’s a calming color for the little mover and shaker, yet still stimulating with the varying shapes. And when he awakes, he can learn his nursery rhymes as he starts learning to read!

For Destroy, my chill little guy who may forget to breathe (but loves to eat), Gramma found a farm fabric. He can learn his primary colors and what sounds the farm animals make. The backing is bright red with yellow baby chicks. Stimulating. Wake up and breathe!

They get cuter by the day. The quilts just make them stand out. I can’t wait to remember these moments when they’re packing the quilt for college. That one day, long long ago, I sat and held their three-pound selves – rocking my little geniuses slowly back and forth next to their learning quilts.