My Quilt > Yours

On top of producing the best-smelling laundry, filling me up with love every time I see her, making every occasion special, making better pasta salad than I could ever dream of, loving the dinner-clean up, and making me proud to be called a “Monkey,” (and many other things), my Mapa has proved that she is also an expert quilter.

I can claim this because I witness it first-hand every time I walk into my bedroom. I did not think that my demands could be met, but of course, Mapa pulled it off. The only tools she had been given to make it work were two uncomplimentary colors, the scattered personality of yours truly (that can sometimes make less sense than a Christmas Eve Nativity), high expectations, and a swiftly approaching deadline. Somehow though, she managed to stitch all of the elements together perfectly, creating a more aesthetically pleasing and magnificent quilt for me than I had ever imagined. My Mapa, in the lone company of her OttLite, puts other quilters to shame. She is magic.

The front side of my quilt shows a brilliant intertwining of red and purple fabric - the colors I had requested. I was in awe the first time I saw those two colors on my quilt, representing who I am and who I want to be more like, working together in such harmony. Only Mapa could have made my impossible request reality.

As if that wasn’t enough to make me fall in love, the fabric covering the back of my quilt is absolutely perfect. I cannot even describe to you in an effective manner how much I love it. It’s a black and white pattern, with everything from music notes to mushrooms floating around each other in a captivating scene that makes me want to jump inside it. Then there are these faces…the only color in the pattern, sort of bursting out from the chaos every once in a while, doing their best to blend in, but naturally failing. I love these faces. I feel like I can relate to them…or maybe I simply want to relate to them. Regardless, I could not have picked a more perfect fabric, and I think everyone else should be jealous (:

Mapa, I want to thank you so much for my quilt. I love it, I love that you were the one who made it, I love how it looks on my bed, I love how perfect it is for me, and I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. My quilt is the perfect gift, a true reflection of its maker.

What Is It?

It is a risk, a taken chance,
A blind gesture,
An offering to place a tiny part of yourself
Into someone else’s hands.
It is a plea, a roller coaster ride.
It is an answer.
It is a disappointment, or a verification of happiness.
It is impossible, or second-nature.
It is a weighing of the odds, a 50/50 chance.
It is terrifying, paralyzing, or sometimes an afterthought.
It is diverse.
It is life-altering, or it is forgotten.
It is an obligation, or it is a leap of faith.
It is expected, or it is disgusting.
It is courageous, an act of bravery.
It is thoughtful, a meticulous decision.
It is hand-picked, or it is standard.
It is the epitome of reckless abandon.

It is a friend request.