I Got It Done!

I finished the quilt!  I can't believe it. Not only did I finish it but I did so a few days ahead of schedule.

We had the pleasure of spending time with our daughter today. We left early this morning and drove three plus hours to visit our daughter for family weekend. I tried really hard to surprise my daughter with the finished quilt but was so excited and when she asked me by phone if the quilt was finished with such expectancy in her voice I couldn't lie and answered her with a resounding YES!!!

So this morning when we arrived earlier than she'd expected and I presented her with the quilt we rushed straight up to her room, apologized to her roommate for being so loud and giddy early in the morning (it was 11:00 am but we are talking about college kids here), and spread the newly finished quilt on her bed.  It was a perfect fit!  All of my hard work was rewarded with the biggest grin and many many hugs and kisses. And the cherry on top was a pillowcase made with some of the leftover quilt fabric. 

Some pics...

The rug doesn't quite work with the colors in the quilt so We will be looking for an orange one to replace it. 

So as I sit here typing this post, I find myself feeling a little sad.  I've spent the last few weeks working on this quilt and now that it is finished I actually miss it.  You see, while I was sewing the quilt I thought about how happy my daughter would be when she saw it for the first time.   I thought about all the love that went into the very first quilt I made from start to finish and how I have given her a little part of me to keep with her while she is away at school and then later as she establishes her own household and family.  

Now I know why quilters love what they do. Quilting is stitching little pieces of love into someone's life.

Until next time...Sew something you love!

Many Distractions But Making Progress

These past few weeks have been filled with fun distractions.  Hubby and I celebrated 25 years of marriage.  We have been enjoying our empty nest although I do find myself missing having the kids around.  But I have plenty of projects to take my mind off of missing my kids.

I have started getting more use of my Cricut Expressions Die Cut Machine that, until recently, was only put to use when one of the kids had a school project.  Now I'm discovering yet another craft that I enjoy-- card making. Unfortunately, when I get excited about a new project I find it difficult to stay motivated to complete older projects.  That means that some of the time I could have spent sewing and completing works in progress has been spent on new sewing projects and  other crafts.

If you have been following this blog you know that I promised my daughter a quilt to take to college. It was supposed to be completed this summer but other things got in the way. To force myself to keep working on the quilt I have set a deadline of completing the quilt in time to take it to her on Family Weekend in a few weeks.  Problem is, other projects have been "jumping in the way".

Like this pillowcase I made for my son's girlfriend who recently lost a family member --

There is a great tutorial that show how to make a pillowcase using the burrito technique.  The wonderful thing about this technique is there are no raw edges showing on the wrong side.  I found the main fabric on the red tag bin at Joann's.  It is a cotton flannel.  I had enough of the fabric to  make two pillowcases.  The music and rose motif has special meaning to the recipient of these pillowcases. 

And these greeting cards--

But despite all the happy distractions I still managed to make significant progress on the quilt...

AND I found this fabric for the backing.  It was on sale at Joann's.  I like that it contains most of the colors that are in the quilt top and it has happy words like "sing", "create", "imagine" and "play" printed throughout.  I think this is perfect for my college-age daughter.  I hope she likes it. 

Currently I am in search of an area that is large enough to lay out the entire quilt in order to take measurements for the border.  After that comes cutting out and piecing the border and the quilt back, sewing on the border.  Then, of course, is sandwiching the entire thing together and machine quilting it on my home sewing machine.  I am not afraid to admit that I am extremely intimidated. I am not a quilter and this is my first major quilting project!  Why oh why did I decide to make a xl twin quilt?!

Oh well, it's only sewing-- right???   

...gulp!!!

 

Until next time...Sew something you love!