It's done! A long time in-the-making, I put the binding on Ezra's baby clothes quilt this weekend, and gave it its first wash. I really thought I was going to give this to him for his 13th birthday last year, but it sat waiting for binding until now, just before his 14th. These things happen, and surely he isn't without plenty of blankets around here. But oh, I'm so glad to have this one finished and wrapped around his shoulders! Just like Calvin's (which you can find here), this started with squares of Ezra's baby clothes. The ones that were the most memorable, yet not quite useable by any other little ones. And a few precious things too - bits of the slings that Steve and I each wore (and wore out) with him inside of it, for example. There are just so many memories in this quilt. I remember each piece and where it came from, which isn't surprising. But I was surprised by how many of the pieces Steve and Ezra (and Calvin) recognized too. It made my Mama heart happy, really, hearing them know and understand, a little bit, what it means.
When I began this project, I started with giant piles of clothes belonging mostly to the older four, cut them into square pieces, and sorted by child for storage until ready for making. That worked really well for space efficiency, but it does limit me a bit now that they're all cut into the same size squares. I didn't think about that - Calvin's being patchwork, this one being some sort of asymmetrical I-don't-know-what, and still three more to make. That's okay, it's a creative challenge, I suppose. How many ways to work a square? There must be so many! I'm thinking on that now, as Adelaide's is next up, and somehow her pile of squares is the largest. Though I don't anticipate any of the others being done any time soon, I might at least begin hers, as she's almost ready for one herself. So far, two children in, I can say that 13/14 seems just about right, just about the time when wrapping a little bit of your childhood around your shoulders is a very good thing.
