Saturday, September 17, 2011

Last night was the first cold night of the season.  Hubby and I celebrated the cooler temperature with a good, old fashioned blanket war.  He opened with a little tug on his edge of the single, lightweight quilt we are currently sleeping under, proceeding to uncover my hip and leg.  I returned with a slightly more insistent tug of my own, uncovering his feet.  You know how this goes.  After some jostling for advantage, I finally ended the foray by tucking my edge under my hip and planting myself firmly upon it.  A couple more tugs from him got no results, and in my half dreamy state, I snickered to myself over having won this round.  Neither one of us ever got up out of bed to close the window, add another blanket or even to turn off the fan!!!  bwahahahaha

This afternoon we laughed about the whole thing and then we talked about the coming cooler weather and what preparations we might need to make before truly cold weather gets here.  The first thing on both our lists was our winter quilt!

Our first winter together as husband and wife was spent on the top of a butte in a single wide, nineteen seventy something mobile home with a wood stove for heat.  We were cold!!!  We were poor!!  We were creative!!  So, we decided we needed a heavy quilt.  We went to all the local thrift stores and begged for any jeans or corduroy pants they had that were unsaleable.  We got garbage bags full for free just because we asked. 



Hubby was in charge of cutting out all the squares.  I was in charge of sewing them all together.  We stitched a denim quilt that we have treasured and we have spent 16 fantastic winters together underneath it. 

Back then we were sleeping on a full size pull out loveseat.  So the quilt we made is really only a skimpy double size.  We've since graduated to a queen sized bed, but we are stubborn and have continued using our beloved quilt.

We've had four children since that quilt was stitched.  It's been washed and hung to dry hundreds of times.  It's been camping with us and thrown in the bottom of a closet through the summers.  It's been hauled in the car and draped over the sofa.  The poor thing is looking pretty shabby.  Still, we are undeterred!



So, this afternoon we dug the ole thing out and set to work on it.  We removed the old blue satin binding and the pink floral pillow ticked flat sheet we backed it with.  We cut loose the old yarn ties and laid the top out on our bed.  We took stock of the situation and came up with a plan.  The worn spots will be patched, just as our jeans are.  New squares will be added along both sides and the bottom to enlarge the quilt to a more currently usable size.  A new backing will be scrounged and our beloved quilt will be made servicable once again.  And, the best part of all, parts of a pair of jeans or overalls from each of the kids will be used in the process.  Each child brought us a contribution and I'm so excited that this time a piece of each of them will be included in the project. 

This winter looks to be warm, toasty, and filled with love.