Sometimes when we’re excited about one project, we make grandiose plans, right?
Several years ago, we embarked on a new, family adventure. Yes, we invested in a camper! We had tried tent camping, but life with little kids is so much more enjoyable with a private bathroom. Much like a home, when you purchase a new camper, the floodgates of needs pour in. My innate need to decorate everything also surfaced.
I wanted to stick to the camping theme, but I wanted subtle colors. I also wanted comfort, durability, and something more meaningful than a big box bed spread. This urge coupled with a recent viewing of Erica Arndt’s rag quilt YouTube tutorial inspired my next project: the camper quilt! It looked so easy. It would be the perfect project with a short learning curve and a big payoff.
I researched batting and backing, but I knew little of quilt shop fabrics. I just gathered some fun prints from my local craft store and started working.
My hands ached from cutting all of the squares, and squares became pretty boring. I just wanted to finish the project, so my first attempt yeilded a quilt slightly too short for the space. But, you know what is great about a rag quilt? You can just more rows!
And that’s exactly what I did. After a few camping trips, I decided to add a few more rows, making it the perfect length for our camper bed. I love it’s soft, cotton back and its lightweight feel. It is the showpiece of the primary bed, and I will forever value its snuggle. Dogs jump on it (those naughtly little things,) kids spill on it, and I just dump it into the washing machine after each trip. It made me feel so accomplished that I was sure I had become a real quilter!
I’m A Quilter!
One of our favorite camping locations quickly became Fort Wilderness in Disney World. Oh, I could go on and on about this wonderful slice of Heaven, but back to the quilts…
In my excitement about the next Disney trip, I decided to take on a new, special project: Disney quilts for the camper!
I again headed into the craft store, loaded up on a few prints that each of my kids would enjoy, and went to work on a special, rag quilt for each of them to use on our trips to the Mouse.
My son’s is largely “Cars” themed.
My daughter’s is a combination of princesses and other girly characters.
And my corners don’t all align. And my quilts are not perfectly sized. But these cozy, special blankets will forever beckon the memories of their childhood days of camping in Disney World.
Some quilts are created to be works of art. Some are created out of necessity. But what I love about quilting is the story of the fabrics, the patterns, and the quickly moving seasons of life wherein they joined us and hugged us.
So, thank you, Rag Quilts. You were the beginnings of many “something specials!”