First Finish in Ages!!

A lady in my online group, Sue, was in a car accident in December and broke one of her legs BAD - as in "broken in 3 places" bad! So, the group quickly decided we needed to do a "comfort quilt" for her, because that's just how we roll. I truly love this lady, and quickly offered to do the block collecting and design/piece the quilt. I didn't really realize what I was getting myself into - we all piece differently, measure differently, etc.. But the scrappy blocks I received were gorgeous & I LOVE the way it turned out! It's way larger than I expected it to be at just under 80"x80". I guess this is more than a "lap" quilt, huh?

I think this one took the life out of me a few times. I have been so tired that I mis-cut every piece of fabric I took the rotary cutter to before today (I'm writing this on Sunday, January 29th, 2012). I had to go back to the quilt shop, FiddleSticks, TWICE to replace improperly cut fabric. Of course, I could never cut the fabric too BIG - it was always (really - ALWAYS) 1/4" too small! Talk about disheartening...

Speaking of Fiddlesticks - I truly appreciate all of their help & encouragement regarding my design and choosing the fabrics for the background and "frames!"

Since the quilt is a surprise and Sue can't know about the quilt until the annual luncheon in mid-February, I'm going to make it so that this doesn't actually post until that date.

I hope Sue loves the quilt, and that the rest of our group members like it, too! I don't want to be the only one that loves it! LOL

:)

Charity Quilt

We went to a benefit for the Boys & Girls Club a few years ago ~ I believe it was February of 2005. It was called "The Portland Showcase of Wine & Cheese." It was a huge wine/cheese tasting (and I mean HUGE). There was live music, and both live and silent auctions.

My husband bid on, and won, a REALLY BIG Snowman. I bid on, and won, a quilt!!! It is probably twin size, and is made of 30's reproduction prints on a white background. I don't think it was a WOW background - I'll have to look closer...


I was bidding with/against one other person. At times, I thought she was the quilt maker or something because it seemed like she was really just there trying to get me to up my bid. I can't remember, but I think I paid $250 after hovering over the bid sheet for the last 5 minutes of the auction. I tell you what - I LOVE that quilt! 30's repro's are one of my very favorite (alongside batik's) and the lady did such a beautiful job on it! I used to know her name and I communicated with her a little bit, too. Actually, she sent me the quilt pattern in the mail!

So anyway, the quilt is all done by machine - machine pieced and quilted by machine or longarm. It was done very well because the quilt gets a lot of use by all of us and it isn't showing any signs of abuse (yet?).

As soon as I can remember her name, I will add the name of the quilt maker..... I have to find that pattern first, so it might be quite awhile (as nursing school starts back up in a few days!)....



You know, I have this dream of owning a LOT of quilts. I want to MAKE a LOT of quilts... But the reality is this - I don't really care how I get them, as long as they're not high production quilts (like we would buy in a department store). If it is made the way I make quilts, then I want it!! I can't even explain the feeling that quilts give me. It is something so warm, so..... comforting... I'm just in awe of them. And I want more!