Inspiration

Bird Quilt from the Baby Shower

September 30, 2009 by Corey 19 Comments

This weekend Daisy and I held our baby shower at our home and a good time was had by all.  The food, the games, and friends and family made it what a baby shower should be: a joyful occasion (the competition to see who could empty a baby bottle of beer fastest didn’t hurt either).  Of course, we were showered with gifts which is the not-so-subtle point of a baby shower, and some of those gifts were bird-themed.  Today I will share with you one of those wonderful gifts, a quilt my mother made for our due-in-November son.

My mom is a long-time quilter and over the years her design and execution have gotten better and better (not that her early efforts were in the least bit shabby).  We are thrilled with this gorgeous quilt loaded with fancifully-colored birds and think that little Upopa Epops (Jochen, you’ll be sad to learn that Daisy has rejected Willet as a name, though it did make the possible list, and I think it goes without saying that Upopa Epops wasn’t even given a fair hearing) will love looking upon it.  Wait, looking upon it?  Aren’t quilts to cuddle up in?  Well, yes, most quilts are to cuddle up in but this particular quilt is actually meant to be a wall hanging because the buttons used for the birds’ eyes would be a choking hazard.  It will look wonderful hanging in the room we are turning from a computer room/guest bedroom into a nursery.

It’s great to be a birder with such wonderful family and friends who were so kind as to show at the shower and share in our joy.  And even better to have such a talented and caring Mom who can make such a sweet work of art to adorn our walls.  Thanks, Mom!

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.