A little baby was born , perfect, and adorable.. Reddish blond hair, what there was of it. Eyes, fingers, toes all perfect .. A healthy little baby boy.. Oliver is his name.. And , at 5 months of age, is 99.9 % blind, due to an under developed optic nerve at birth. A chance for sight, maybe so, but most likely not, from what was told to the parents of this precious child..
Being a self concious quilter, afraid to show off a quilt that I have made, I hesitate . I shake, and quake at the thought that some other quilter, male or female, would see, and start picking out bad seams, or triangles that lose their point.. It has happened more times than I want to remember, and its defeating to the spirit of the one who at least is trying to make something out of scraps ( life ) , into a work of beauty.
It's not the quilts fault that seams are crooked, or puckers are puckering more than a sweet granny kissing on a grandchild's pink rosey cheeks. Yet, this is what is still a very common occurence with my quilting. Because, I , too , have a challenge visually with eyesight. Though not blind, I am legally blind.. But mums the word, because nothing usually stops me from trying something at least once!
Ollie, because he is a normal little baby in every other way, should have a quilt .. one that cuddles him in his mommy/daddies arms. One that is bright and fun and washable!! He's a baby afterall, and drools, and spits up, and occassionally already is known to spring a leak , if you know what I mean!
A quilt, yes, for a child, just as every child should have one ( though not all do, sadly )..
I was encouraged to make this little fella a " sensory quilt".. ok, so I was a little slow on the uptake, " What's a " sensory" quilt I asked? "... a few minutes later, I sheepishly hung my head , and said, " oh"..
Thus, a sensory quilt of textures, fabrics, and tears began for this little baby, whose sight will probably never visually be able to see it, but his fingers, his mouth, and his heart will one day.
Because I needed to know, and understand how it feels to be completely sightless, I took a deep breath, and felt by fingertips some of the pieces of fabric that I recieved from quilting friends all over the ocuntry. But I did all that , blindfolded.. Yes, needles pricks, nose to the grindstone, literally as I came to close to the needle a time or two, and one finger sewn perfectly for about a quarter inch .. true! Ouch!!, but true.
Each person wanted to be part of this little quilt, because of the inspiration that Ollie's birth had meant to them. None of them knows he,, or I, for that matter.. Yet, quilting life means having more friends to inspire you by - whether its their perfect quilt tops, or ones like the one I made for Ollie, definitly crooked, but perfectly designed in love.
I set to task , on sewing some of this quilt top.. I matched with fingertips as best I could from cut squares of fleece, flannels, bumpy / stretchy material ( I have no clue what it is, though its like slipper bottoms when youre in the hospital ).. Talk about being visually challenged, when trying to sew things such as that..
But all said and done, a " sensory " quilt top was completed, with a few individual pockets sewn onto the front for tucking in special words of "You can do all that you want to do! " . " Sight is not just for the seeing.. its for the INSIGHTFUL "... and my favorite of all, " A Pocket to catch all your Dreams"...
The backing fabric , if you look close , is skatebaords.. Ollie's daddy loves skateboarding, even now into his late 20's.. His dream was to have a son, and teach him all the tricks of the death defying moves that he had learned over his 13 years of skateboarding. Moves that defy logic, AND gravity, lol.. Yet, moves the father wanted to teach his son in the worst way.. Then being told there is probabililty of no sight, his questions became, " How do I teach my boy how to do what I love to do?"..
Simple , put him on the board, have him hold on , and teach him how to feel.. feel, experience, and dream.. Its in your back pocket, I told him..
This quilt, by no means beautiful on the outside like so many shown here on this website, is to me, MORE beautiful for two reasons :
1) It is made in perfect love for a special little baby whose life will never be dull. Not with having so many quilting grannies who will always remember the pieces of fabric they sent to create his quilt..
And 2) it is beautiful because, being challenged with a lack of self confidence to show anything that is not perfect, I learned that that beauty is in the Eyes of the beHolder.. and for me, I am holding this little quilt wrapping memories of making it to teach about touch, and about love from others who never will know what it means to be sightless, yet who do know what it means to be In - Sight- Full...
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