Strangest reaction to a quilt---I take the prize!
 

I have to start this story with the fact my niece has Asperger's. While she is very high functioning, every once in awhile, it just slaps you in the face that she is different.

So my niece graduated from HS and I suggested to my sister that I would make a memory quilt. My sister really wanted this done and bought all the fabric. Now when it started out, in my mind, I was doing T-shirts and transfers of her prize-winning art onto fabric. Ultimately, it ended up about 1/3 that kind of stuff and 2/3 pictures of her from baby til graduation.

I get the quilt together and then in the sashing while it was still a top, as an embellishment, I FMQ'd words in script in different color threads to describe her. The first letter of each word spelled out her name. Like for B--I had bright and for R--I had Reflective, which you will see was quite appropriate! I have to admit, it turned out cute! Lucky for me she has three short names.

The party was yesterday. The room has a cathedral ceiling. My sister hung the quilt high over the dessert table. The niece must have walked by it ten times without seeing it. Everybodyelse in the room commented. There were about 40 people there.

Then the niece sees it and gets the strangest look on her face. I am prepared for anything. In my mind, I made this quilt to make my sister happy so if the niece loves it or hates it I don't care but I was not prepared for this.

My niece pops out with....When did you put that up. That's my face up there on a blanket. Wow, that just freaks me out.

All day, she just kept looking at it. At one point, she commented that she didn't know about putting it on her bed since it would be like her looking through herself. Way too deep for me.

So when your family doesn't like your quilt, realize it could be worse. LOL!

You just never know! And they don't have to have Asperger's or anything to make a comment like that. It's just their way of thinking. I'm sure it was lovely! I know a child who has Asperger's and every time she looks into a mirror, she tells her mother, "That ugly a** girl is back!" And she is absolutely gorgeous. If you are standing next to her and looking in the mirror with her, she'll say and she has a friend just like you! She cannot connect reflection! No association with reflections in mirrors!

I do understand the picture comment. I don't know if I would want a quilt with my pic on it. friends and family yes. me not so much.maybe mom will like to keep it and you can make another simpliler quilt for your niece.

Interesting - is there only one picture that bothers her? If so, maybe something could be appliqued over it?

Nah. I made it and it's done. I never thought she would use it or like it, that's just her. I figured it would end up at her mom's or wadded up in a closet some place.

Funny thing was that there was a prom pic in there. The guy in the picture was at the party. He thought it was cool.

To each, their own.

I kinda saw this differently -- not that she didn't like the quilt, but that she was being reflective in her thoughts. " it would be like looking through herself. Wow that is deep. I think with time she will feel more comfortable with it and grow to love it. Blessing to you for taking that risk! Kathy

Sometimes it takes awhile for things to grow on you, then you like it better with time. This is especially true for people with Asperger's. At any rate, you can't judge how they like something based on their off-the-cuff comments. She may like it as a wall hanging.

My son has Asperger's. Yes, they do think differently. He attended a special school where all the kids in his class had Asperger's. Quite a few of the students were adverse to having their pictures taken.

I bet your sister will treasure the quilt even if your niece does not warm up to it.

Just a thought -- but I'm not sure I'd like a hungry caterpillar on my bed (especially if I was a kid that understood what that meant) -- or someone's face, mine, an ancestors or anyone. However, they could hang on the wall anytime. Her perspective was certainly something I didn't know and was glad to learn about.

My niece like yours is high functioning with Asperger's. We couldn't sing Happy Birthday to her at all when she was younger, she said she didn't want all the words surrounding her. She is working two part time jobs and going to college. She asked me to make her a swirly smooth quilt. I haven't figured that out yet.