Throwback Thursday: Illustrated Baby Quilt

Happy Mother’s Day!

The interwebs tells me this is the week to discuss things you can buy and make for mothers, so I thought it might be nice to share one of the first gifts my mother ever received, which just happened to be a DIY project; a handmade quilt featuring images from Mother Goose stories.

Behold!

The quilt was made by her older sister, my Aunt Cake and her son Tad, who I suspect was around 10 or 11 at the time. As a structure, the quilt is pretty beginner-friendly (although I would never classify Aunt Cake’s sewing skills as anywhere near beginner) — It’s just nine squares sewn sewn together. The drawings came courtesy of Tad, using fabric crayons (I used some on a pillow I made for Pentel not long ago). Then she bound it all together using polka-dot kelly green ribbon (this probably where my deep love of polka dots was born) and a few bows. Nearly 36 years later, the dots have worn off and one of the bows is missing (but it’s still here and it’s still ticking).

(Apparently I am very fond of parentheses today).

Weird thing. This quilt is made from that special sort of cotton that always stays cool. Do you know what I mean? It’s cool to the touch. Sometimes I will find that in vintage sheets. I’m not sure if it has some rayon mixed it, or maybe it was a certain genus of cotton plant that we killed off with pesticides. I don’t know, but I one of the reasons I love this quilt and keep it in circulation is that it’s lovely to use as a bed spread in the summer. Lola likes to wallow on it. She knows a good thing when she sees it.

The images are pretty cool too.

That’s Mother Goose flying above the city. Weird thing, this quilt became a major learning tool and one of the first places I ever learned to recognize what animals looked like, and it was because of this drawing that I always saw geese as a valid mode of transportation. Still do. Sometimes I’ll see Mother Goose illustrations and she’s holding a regular size goose under her arm and I’ll think, Woah. There is no way that port bird can support a full grown woman. 

Here is Froggy Went A ‘Courtin’. If you are not familiar with the story, you can listen to Bruce Springsteen sing it here.

And Three Blind Mice.

And I have no idea what this is.

You’d think I would know after 36 years but I’m clueless. There is a cat chasing a mouse in front of a duck (?) on a throne. Not sure. But I’m digging the duck’s pink hat.

And here is my mom receiving the quilt at her baby shower in 1979.

Let’s discuss this picture.

So, FIRST OF ALL, Props to my Mom for having a co-ed baby shower in the 70s. I know it’s the cool thing now, but back then it wasn’t terribly common for dudes to want to hang out and open diaper baskets. I’m proud to say I’m still friends or in touch with five out of the seven people in this photo (and that’s because the other two have passed).

And SECOND OF ALL, note the champagne. I’m not pushing alcohol on anyone, but I take some pride knowing I my first party had real champagne and not some pink and blue sparkling grape juice horse crap. That would sooooo not fly at our house. Actually, I don’t think this was our house, but Mom wouldn’t be caught dead at a party that didn’t serve booze, even if it was her own baby shower (she had very strong opinions on a lot of things – champagne and chardonnay in particular).

Speaking of celebrations…Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mommies, grannies, step-moms, aunties, godmothers, fairy godmothers, and any other woman who is hustling to make a positive impact on the life of a child. Sunday is for you!

#Update. My old school pal, Sonnet, just identified the mystery illustration on Facebook: “The unidentified picture is from the rhyme “Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been? I’ve been to London to see the fair queen. Pussycat, pussycat, what did you there? I frightened a little mouse under her chair.” MYSTERY SOLVED.