Quilting is not my thing. Quilt — yes, especially the thick, squishy, sleeping-bag comfort of the down quilt. Quilting — no, especially the tiny-stitch, T-square obsessiveness of the patchwork project.

So the fact that vacation brought on a quilting frenzy is not simply surprising. It's nutty.

The vacation took place some time ago. Specifically: years. I spotted the quilt in an open-air market. I thought its abundance of sparkles and sequins and super-soft velvet would appeal to the young and trendy. Specifically: my young and trendy sleeper.

She liked it. It liked lying flat on her bed and falling to pieces. Before she packed for college, I knew it needed a stitch here, a patch there and major surgery down the middle. Three semesters in, my dining-room table hosts an abundance of embroidery floss, velvet scraps and Band-Aids.

If I can keep up the pace, it will make a nice gift for graduation.

leahreskin@aol.com