Sunday, October 15, 2017

Carolyn's Reach: Reaching for My Daddy


My sweet mother-in-law loved to tell the story about my husband's childhood antics.  Jerry was always an explorer, and one day when he was 3 years old, his mother glanced out the kitchen window and saw him climbing up their tall ladder.  

The extended ladder was leaning against the roof where Jerry’s Dad was repairing some leaks. 

Of course, his mother panicked, but she quietly slipped outside and signaled to her husband that Jerry was climbing up the ladder.  His Dad turned around just as Jerry reached the very top rung.  He carefully reached down and caught Jerry’s hand. His Dad pulled him into his arms and carried him safely down the ladder.  When the theme, “reach” was announced, this scene immediately came to my mind.  My quilt marks this event in my husband’s young life.


To create my quilt, I free-cut cotton batik fabrics and fused them onto the steel blue background.  Although their home was in West Texas where there were no trees or flowers, I decided my little scene needed enhancing.  So I used fusible fabric and fabric pencils for the tree, embroidered a few flowers and finished the quilt with machine quilting using Aurifil thread.


10 comments:

  1. What a charming and loving story! It was perfect for this theme. And the resulting quilt is also charming.You did a great job of creating Jerry as a little boy!

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  2. This is a great story and every parent can relate to their child's exploration. This is perfect for the 'reach' theme!

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  3. Oh my goodness! What a wonderful story to put into a quilt. How fun to share it this way. Cuteness all over this!

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  4. I love story quilts! What a treasure. You are always so imaginative and the execution is perfect. Thank you for sharing your talents and stories with us.

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  5. What a story! Its wonderful you were able to portray it.

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  6. This is a delightful quilt capturing a memory that can be passed to your grandchildren / definitely a success.

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  7. What a totally delightful quilt and story. We an all relate to it one way or another. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Oh my gosh ! My heart was beating so hard.... I knew immediately what your quilt was "saying" ! How many of us have been in exactly that same panic situation (either us climbing / or our children climbing !) Yours is a perfect example of a quilt really being able to tell a story ! Great job :-D

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  9. Well this quilt sure put a smile on everyone's face!! I love the story and that was a great portrayal. I can see you putting these quilts into a journal format for your great-grands that are coming along.

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  10. What a precious quilt, based on a sweet story with a happy ending! Glad you thought of depicting this for the theme. The story and now quilt are a terrific family heirloom.

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