A few months after my mother passed away my younger brother welcomed his first grandchild into the family. Out of seven kids in my family he was the only one that hadn't had the opportunity to share a grandchild with my mom. I kept feeling that I needed to do something to show my brother that this little baby was still connected to my mom even though she wouldn't meet her in this life here on earth. This is when I turned on the creativity that had been hiding deep inside and made little Ella a blanket...
Through tears, I cut apart a pair of my mother's slacks and a blouse that she had worn. As I began to piece the little squares together I realized there weren't enough to make a very big blanket, so I started looking through some more of her things - yes, a hankie will do. So one of my mother's hankie's became the center of the blanket and it made it just the perfect size.
Hmmmmm - I had this pocket left over from the blouse. What could I do with the pocket? Well, I stitched it onto the blanket and made a little heart to fit in it - another little piece of love.
So the first memory blanket was created and shared - not just a blanket from me, but a blanket from my mom. It was a way to show that my mother will never really be gone. She lives on in our hearts and in our lives. Her love will live on and on and on... we can share that love with each new baby that is born into our family by sharing our memories of her and how she so loved her family. For me, I found a way to wrap that baby in her love - a love that flows from generation to generation - a blanket pieced with the very clothes that my mother wore and a hankie that was always neatly tucked away in her dresser drawer.
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| Ella's blanket. |
My mother's will to live was so strong right up until the point the doctors said they couldn't do anymore for her. She loved her family so much. Through years of illness, her will to live was kept strong by looking forward to the next family event, the next visit from a friend or relative, and the next due date for a new baby to be born into the family. I'm trying to keep her love of family going strong as I stitch together a blanket here and there for a new family member so that they can be "Wrapped in Love".
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| Emma's blanket - our new grandbaby. |
This blanket was made from two of my mom's blouses and a hankie (not even one of her hankies, but I liked that vintage touch in the center of the blankets). This blanket didn't go together well because of the silky fabrics. I almost decided to start over with different fabrics, but then I walked into my dad's one day and he had that picture of my mom out on the kitchen table - she was wearing one of the blouses I had cut into blanket squares... I had to be using the right clothes even through it was a struggle to sew. I can't begin to share how touched I was when little Emma showed up at church one Sunday dressed in a cute little yellow outfit, and this blanket wrapped around her - wrapped in my mother's love.
