Girl gives gift of quilt to show love for friend

May 14, 2004

According to Oakley's Carissa Behling, making a quilt for someone is a wonderful way to show that you care and a way to remember a fun event in one's life. The 12-year-old put together a quilt last year for a friend about a day that the two won't likely forget about any time soon. That quilt took home first place in a National Quilters' contest this month.

For Carissa's birthday her best friend, Kelsey Schell of Brentwood, gave her a trip to swim with the dolphins at Six Flags Marine World. The exciting day included getting in the water with the dolphins and swimming around the pool. It was a special experience for both girls, but for Carissa it was even more special because her friend knew that she wants to persue a career in marine biology when she grows up.

"It was kind of scary to swim with the dolphins, but it was fun once we got in and spent the time with them," Carissa said.

To show her gratitude, Carissa put together a special quilt for Kelsey for her birthday present. The quilt, of course, held a picture of dolphins and all of the colors represented what they did that day at Marine World.

"I really thought that remembering it would be really cool with a quilt," Carissa said.

The Behling family could really relate to the old adage "the family that quilts together, stays together." According to Carissa everyone in her family quilts, even her father, Dave, who is also a teacher at Freedom High School. Carissa's mother, C.J., is a member of the Delta Quilters Guild and is very active in the group.

C.J.'s interest in quilting brought Carissa's attention to the craft. Carissa is a junior member of the Delta Quilters Guild. According to Dave Behling, his wife found out about the national contest and asked if Carissa was interested in entering the under-18 junior divison. C.J. thought that the dolphin quilt, which is titled "Kelsey's Quilt," would be a great entry for the contest and called and asked Kelsey's mom if they could borrow the quilt to send to Springfield, Ill.

Carissa decided to send another quilt to the contest. It was a 45 inch by 60 inch quilt that she had made for her 19-year-old sister, Megan. It was titled "Make a Wish."

"Megan's room is filled with stars and space so I made a quilt that had stars all over it," Carissa said of the quilt she made as a present for her sister. "Make a Wish" also won an award in the contest. It came in third place.

All and all, Carissa has made seven quilts. She is currently working on another quilt that she is temporaily calling "Yellow Brick Road." "The theme is ocean and I don't have a name yet, but it's coming out nice," she said.

When asked which is her favorite quilt so far, Carissa says that it would have to be her first quilt. She says it was the hardest to make and took her the longest. It included a log cabin at night with stars in the sky.

This was the first quilt show that Carissa has ever entered, according to her father, but she plans on entering something in the Contra Costa County Fair this year, as well as her guild's quilt show in September.

Carissa is a student at Delta Vista Middle School where she plays flute in the band. She is active in church and community events. She also enjoys horseback riding, writing and drawing. The drawing really comes in handy in her quilt making.

"Kelsey's Quilt" was on display at the Machine Quilters Showcase National Quilt Show in Springfield, Ill., until this past weekend. When she gets the quilt back she plans to give it back to Kelsey where it can hang again in its place of honor above Kelsey's bed.

Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.

Distributed by the Contra Costa Times

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