Peanut butter and jelly

While at Bonnie Hunter's workshops in Tucson this week, a few of the quilters were chatting about ugly quilts.  I would like to share the story with you as best I remember.  I will warn you that the story brought tears to my eyes.

A chairperson with Project Linus was delivered quilts for the next time there was a need for them.  Later, as she was going through the quilts, she found a particularly....  umm.... to stay politically correct, we will call it a very UNIQUE quilt, done in browns and purples.  The quilt seemed to look muddy and, well, not cheerful or pleasing at all to the chairperson's eye. 

The chairperson wasn't sure what to do with the quilt.  During her tenure, she had received a few other, similarly unique quilts and had set them aside to make a decision at some later date.  So she set the muddy quilt with the other 'unique' quilts.  She knew that someone poured heartfelt love into the making of the muddy, unpleasant looking quilt but it just didn't look like something she could use as most quilts donated to Project Linus were bright, colorful, cheerful, fun quilts. 

Time went by and the chairperson received a call needing a certain number of Project Linus quilts immediately.  The chairperson set to organizing and counting the quilts to meet the need.  As luck would have it, she needed the purple and brown quilt and a few others considered equally 'unique' quilts to complete the request.

What to do?  The chairperson loaded the quilts into her vehicle and off to the meeting place she went.

Generally, the representative of Project Linus is not present when the quilts were handed out but on this day, she assisted with laying the quilts out on tables.  The children would then come in, view, and choose the quilt they wanted as their own.

The children arrived early as the quilts were still being unpacked and arranged.  Children were running and choosing quickly and more quilts were being unpacked.  Near the door, a little boy was hugging the wall and appeared to be afraid to join the others.  Quilts were unpacked and chosen and they were getting to the bottom of the box of quilts.  The shy little boy, with his head down, still hugged the wall.  He would raise his eyes, but not his head, to view the activity.

As the brown and purple quilt came out, the little boy ran across the room and grabbed the quilt.  He looked at the chairperson and said, "Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite food."

There is no ugly quilt