Who is it for?

"Who's it for?"

How many times have you heard those words?  My son marches up the stairs into my work room (it is a lovely room, bright and airy, that feels like you are working in a tree house) "Is that for me?  Who's it for?"  My dear husband sees me working on a binding, "Who's this one for?"  The ladies at the quilt shop, the ladies in my bee, everyone wants to know "Who am I making the quilt for?"

Maybe it is just a disguised desire - maybe they are really asking, like my son, "Is this one for me?" - but I don't think so. 

Because....

I wonder how many people think I nuts when I can't give them an answer.  Really, I'm making it just for something to do, or because the colors are pretty, or - and this is my favorite answer - because God told me to.  That last one shuts people up pretty quickly.  Sometimes the fabric just jumps off the shelf at me and asks to be made into something snugly.  I've made quite a few of those.  Sooner or later someone comes along that needs that quilt to keep them warm and cheer them up.  Those are the ones I enjoy the most.  To be honest, sometimes I have a hard time giving them away.  Eventually I do and then I wonder what ever took me so long.  The look on the recipient's face is more than I could ever ask for.

I could say that I'm working on shop samples.  Maybe  I could write them off as business expenses.  There is no way that you could miss them as you enter my place of business, a.k.a. my home.  There are quilts everywhere - on walls, railings, chairs, in baskets and piles.  No one should ever complain of being cold in my home.  Calling them shop samples, however, doesn't seem completely honest.

Next time...

I think it is odd that we have to know why.  I think the next time that I see someone working on a beautiful quilt I am going to stop and tell them I'm glad that they are making it.  I'm glad that they are creating something beautiful that will warm someone and make them smile, and I hope that they are having a wonderful time doing it.  Then I'm going to thank them for sharing the moment with me.