My Favorite Quilt

When I went away to college I was leaving the only home I had known for the first 18 years of my life. It was a frightening and exhilarating new chapter for me that held the responsibilities and freedoms of adulthood. Leaving the comfort of the bedroom I lived in for almost two decades was difficult, but I did bring many cherished items along as reminders of where I came from. One of the best items I brought with me to college was a quilt that my mother made for me. Sleeping under it made me feel safe and loved.

It wasn’t an ordinary quilt, but one made in my favorite color combination of turquoise and orange. Being made in a traditional quilt pattern it incorporated many different hues and variations on this color them with the end result assaulting your eyes in brilliant crashing shades. I loved displaying this blanket in my studio apartment at school. Fellow students, neighbors and friends would comment on the choice of combining cool and warm tones. Most people had a strong reaction to the mixture containing bold stripes, muted ginghams, solids, and floral patterns.

It wasn’t soft when I first used it on my bed. The cotton was a little scratchy, not worn in with love and time. I still have the quilt, it's needs some repairs, but then again what well loved item doesn't? Over the years the quilt has grown raggedy, popping its stitches, sustaining a horrible rip down the middle that has been repaired repetitiously, but the dye has not faded. I’m so pleased that my mother did not play it safe and just make something in one color or choose something more fashionable that was not “me”.