the sweetest quilt (a work in progress)

I've been saving my Addie's little baby blouses, toddler dresses, wee nighties + bloomers (anything sweet and made from fabric perfect for quilting) up for many moons now. Most of Addie's old things I've long ago passed on to many other little girls. But I couldn't bear to be rid of some of her loveliest things and so I've been keeping them close to me. They have been waiting.



I knew that eventually wanted to create a special quilt out of all of these little girl items, but it took me years to be able to summon up the courage to cut into them. And when I finally did this past spring, with each cut came a little bit of heartache.



Nights these days, I will tiptoe into Addie's darkened room, to peer at my girl when she's fast asleep. She is long and gangly and hangs tangled off of her bed, limbs all asunder. And it hits me with a shock each time, that suddenly she is fast on her way to adulthood. There is hardly a trace of the little baby girl left here, and this realisation makes my heart both soar and ache.



May this quilt I am working on these days - dozens of simple but magical sawtooth star blocks which I am piecing together with extra care - always bring me back so many memories of our sweetest days together, my little girl and I. For now, faster and faster each day, she is on her way.