Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Handwriting on the ... Quilt

A few years ago, I made a quilt for Evie out of our favorite clothes she wore during her first year.


There are so many memories in this quilt. Amazingly, we can remember a story about each outfit. Like the brown and pink dress she threw up on while we were trying to take a family portrait. Or the purple chickie jammies she wore for months on end that seemed to grow with her. Or the lavender booties my mom so lovingly knitted for her.

On the back of the quilt, I put in several pictures of her wearing the clothes. Here's a shot of the back:


You'll notice on the sides of the family picture are squares of handwriting. One from me, and one from Jeff.

I had no idea at the time how precious Jeff's preserved handwriting would be. 

I remember the day I asked him to write a note to Evie for her quilt. I handed him a piece of paper and a pen, asked him to use his best penmanship, and write a note that took up a space of about 4 square inches. If you know Jeff at all, you know he's not sappy. Not overly emotional by any stretch. So I was curious to see what he would write. When he was finished, he handed me the paper; I read what he wrote and had tears in my eyes. I remember joking with him saying, "Just when I think you have no heart, you pull out something like this." We had a good chuckle over that. Jeff has always been a good charmer, and he pulled out the charm that day. 


This quilt is among my most precious possessions. It captures a time in our life before everything was turned upside down. It highlights our loving thoughts for our daughter in our own handwriting. Evie will forever have a piece of Jeff that we probably won't see in action again. A letter to a daughter from her father. 

Who knew that this simple, handwritten sentiment would have such deep, deep meaning just a couple years later. 

I'm so glad we have it.

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