I’ve been on board with MaximumFun.org since the very beginning. And being around so long, spending so much time chatting on forums, listening to podcasts, supporting this new experimental media, makes me feel so connected to Jesse Thorn that he feels like a friend. Jesse and his wife Theresa are expecting their first child, so when we got together at MaxFunCon, a bunch of forum friends and I knew that it was only right we throw our friend a baby shower.
The whole weekend was scheduled so we decided to keep things modest. I sent out emails to everyone I could track down, inviting them to bring a card or something, a whole bunch of folks donated cash, and we all surprised them at lunch with our gifts. I had to make them a diaper cake, of course, but the real group gift is the quilt I whipped up.
Jesse frequently speaks of his love of antiques, so I went with reproduction 40’s fabrics with some cream kona cotton to break it up. They’re having a boy, but I don’t love aggressively gendered baby items, so I was pleased with the color palette here. Not pastel, not primary, but still somehow juvenile. It was hard to give up.
My favorite part was the appliqued section. I wanted to include a memento that would remind them where this blanket came from, but I also didn’t think they’d love decorating their baby in the business logo, so I recreated the iconic MaxFun rocket ship, but kept it off in a corner in an attempt at subtlety.
When I first had the idea I was worried that it might be a little weird. I’m not typically a fanatic type of fan, and I thought it might be a bit much. But as soon as I mentioned it to my MaxFun friends, everybody thought it was the right thing to do. That’s what keeps me coming back to the internet. Supportive, loving communities that spring up around something awesome.
