Comfort Quilts

I think quilters have always made comfort quilts because that's one of the natural components of having one over you. There is a feeling of warmth, one of safety and yes, of comfort.

These two need pressing, so please disregard the wrinkles you see. I took home two 'kits' or packages of fabric with me several months ago and just finished piecing the tops to return at the August guild meeting. Several quilters will baste the back and batting over a larger table. That step goes fast with many hands. And someone will take it home to quilt. She will either bind it or bring it back for another person to add binding. I learned that quilters enjoy doing the various steps to quilt-making.

These fabrics are suitable for boys or men only because they are not cutsie or floral. Personally, that makes me smile, because I don't tend to make my quilts based on gender. I was given the quilt pattern as a start when I first joined that circle and made several versions of it.

What they tell you is that the quilts are loved and appreciated by those folks who need them. What matters is that they are strong enough to survive washing and drying almost every day. They go to kids in hospitals, to group homes and even are at the ready in the emergency vehicles whenever they pick someone up in the night and are transporting them.

Comfort is an interesting word. Usually we need it or give it when someone or ourselves are under distressing situations. We grieve, we need comfort. We stumble and get hurt, we need comfort. Something big happens to change our life, we need comfort. Yet, comfort could and should come to us when we do good, do mighty things, and are happy. Why wait to give comfort or ask for comfort when things are at their darkest?

These are the last comfort quilt tops I'll make for the guild for awhile. Its not that I have stopped providing a community service, its just changed for now. I think I get comfort from quilt-making, a comfort that is self-generated, warm, safe. Mine.