Embracing Imperfection

I’m working on a very non-modern quilt for my husband’s grandfather, Pa.  He turns 90 at the end of February and is such an inspiration.  He still lives in his own house, drives his car, and cooks his meals.  He is also the sweetest man, who just loves family and especially babies.

So for this very special birthday I am making him a very special patchwork quilt which will represent each year of his life, and am embroidering squares commemorating major events.  I’ll then applique the squares on to the blanket.  I could have embroidered the quilt-top directly, but I like the idea of having these blocks pop-out with the ivory squares.

Anyway, at first I was frustrated with the imperfect nature of my embroidery skills, but then I remembered that I’m doing this by hand rather than machine because I am crazy because I want this blanket to look hand-made.  Sure I could use the embroidery function on my sewing machine, but then it’d look like a computer made this blanket.  And since I hope this will become an heirloom, I want whoever touches this quilt to know it was made with lots and lots of love.  Because it is.