our best-loved quilts (and a RAFFLE!)

When Finneas was born, my friend Emily made him an amazing quilt, with paper-pieced foxes in honor of his middle name (Foxe) and chevrons as a subtle homage to the V's in our last name.  It was so thoughtful and personal, and adorable to boot.

Finneas has grown up with this quilt as his special blankie.  He has loved it from Day One, and it's his biggest source of comfort.  (I joke with Todd that if there's ever a tornado, we need to make sure we get all the kids and Finneas' blanket into the basement, because it's that necessary to his peaceful existence.)

Over the years, it's become quite, um, personalized.  It started with one frayed corner that he would rub against the side of his face... then the corner turned into an entire edge... then the edge kind of migrated around some other corners... then they started working their way toward the center... until it now currently looks like this:

Those poor little foxes have seen better days.

I am constantly finding tiny, ripped pieces of his quilt floating around the house, but heaven forbid I should throw any of them away.  He has a whole corner of a dresser drawer devoted to housing frayed, orphaned Blankie Bits.  "Love" is clearly not a strong enough word to describe his feelings for this quilt.

Recently, Emily also sent us a quilt for the new baby, which was meaningful for so many reasons: first of all, we have a soft spot in our hearts for "Emily quilts" because of how much the first one has been loved; second of all, it's beautiful and it was so kind of her to think of us and to put all the work into making it; and third of all, it's the first gift the new baby has received - the first thing that's really and exclusively 'hers.'  As we have each new baby, I am more and more committed to wanting them to have things they're able to celebrate as their very own - things that illustrate the fact that they're not just one of a crowd of kids, but that they're unique people with gifts and stories and items that are only theirs to claim.  So I love that the very first item that is truly, only this baby's is so incredibly personal and beautiful.

Gah, I'm getting all sappy over this quilt!

But to top of all of our love and affection for Emily and her quilt gifts, she also approached me with the idea to raffle off another quilt she's made, as a generous way to help us save up money for the crazy-big van we're needing to buy soon in which to schlep all these kids around.  I am just in love with this quilt, and I wanted to extend an invitation to you guys to enter the raffle to win it if you'd like to have one of Emily's quilts in your own home!

Raffle entries are $5, and you can purchase as many entries as you'd like!  (Think about how amazing it would be if you were the one who snagged this handmade quilt for five dollars.  Can you even imagine?!)  Proceeds from the ticket sales go to our van savings fund.  So every time you see us driving around in our massive van, you can think, "I helped to make that circus happen."  And that will be a good feeling.

If you'd like to purchase a raffle entry (or two! or more!), you can send money through Paypal (send to emily@the-vardemans.net as a friend) or get in touch with her through this Facebook post.  A winner will be announced next Wednesday, the 20th.

We'd love it so much if you'd consider supporting us in this way - and join us as a member of Emily's fan club by entering to add this awesome quilt to your own home!