I'm Working on a Quilt

Well, I'm actually, technically, working on two quilts. I started a flannel quilt for my husband, uh, ah, well . . . three years and counting . . . ago and it has now been quilted as of like two weeks ago thanks to three ladies from Church who love quilting, two of whom have been quilting for some years now, and a newer quilter friend and myself. I think it took two sessions for us to quilt it. I just need to get the binding done and I will finally be able to give it to my dear husband.

I picked up these wonderful flannel fabrics at JoAnn's. They were hosting a 1/2 price sale on all their flannel fabric, and I must admit I made out like a bandit. (I did. My wallet... That's another story.) But I love, love, love the huge variety of printed flannels they had at that HUGE JoAnn's in Tucson. I so wanted to buy tons more than I could afford. Oh, yeah. *goofy grin* I did buy more than I could reasonably afford. Ooops. Now I can't find a JoAnn's that big anywhere around here unless, maybe I go to the Houston, TX area. And that's quite a trip. Bush Babe of Granite Glen makes treks like that from time to time. Maybe I can too. At least when the wallet gets a little more something in it. *sigh* Or maybe I'll just make a few more quilts with what I have on hand . . .

This is mostly what my husband's quilt looks like. It will look slightly different once bound. (Sorry the picture quality isn't so great. I was in a hurry to post.)

The other quilt began as these three sisters and I sat around quilting two weeks ago when we realized that one of our young men, Jesse, who just turned 19 will be heading out on his two-year mission in a matter of weeks. We discussed getting together, pooling our quilting fabrics, etc. and getting this done BEFORE he leaves. He's going to Denver, Colorado. We've kind of had a tradition (long before I moved to this community) of presenting the returning missionaries with a quilt--as a token of our appreciation for their dedicated service. The tradition has had a change here or there: some quilts were presented prior to the missionaries leaving, as in the case of an older couple (the wife of this duo, was involved in my husband's quilt) because they were going to a cold climate--as Jesse is.

When it came down to it, we had so many other things taking our time--one sister had a brand new grandchild born, so she wasn't able to contribute at the moment, and one thing and another, so I looked through all my mountain of fabric to find I had more than enough, had enough batting, and enough flannel to back it with, so I struck out on my own to craft this quilt.

These are the pieces (quilt blocks) of Jesse's quilt. It will look different when finished.

With the time constraints involved, I won't be piecing this one by hand, though I did embroider Jesse's favorite scripture verse, John 14:15 on one square. Jesse's like that verse: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." He wants to do the Lord's work, and he doesn't use a lot of words. Using words will probably increase for him over the next two years. He's one of those "good kids" that you still hear about, doesn't get into trouble, has infinite patience and a very kind, loving heart. Oh, and he loves peach cobbler at birthday time, too. I made one of those for him, too, and had one of his (five) brothers, and his parents over for peach cobbler to celebrate--on a small scale--his birthday. I think I've known Jesse (and his family) for about 15 years now.

This is the embroidered block--not the best embroidery--again the time constraint. But it does accurately capture the Scripture verse, which is the point, I suppose.

Back to the quilt project. I finished the embroidery, and now I'll machine stitch the very large squares (all in the interest of time) together, stitch up the flannel back. Next week, these 3 ladies, and perhaps a few more from Church, will join me and we'll tie it. That process goes very quickly and will still make a nice quilt. We hope that when Jesse uses it, he'll remember people back home love him and support his decision to serve the Lord and His children.

Are there any quilters among you who lurk around my blog, by chance? What kind of quilting projects do you work on? Do you have special projects that you work on? Patterns/techniques you've found that you love? I'm such a novice in the quilting department, you'd be amazed. Or not. Share with us, please!