2011 Fall Quilt Festival

I had just become a blogger, when I saw all the lovely quilts in Amy's 2011 Spring Quilt Festival , but I wasn't ready to show much of my work. But now, I'm more comfortable and I love seeing all the wonderful quilts, so I decided to enter one of my own.

This queen size crazy quilt was the wedding quilt that I made for my second daughter and her husband. My first love is traditional pieced quilts, but I try to "expand my horizons" when I make wedding quilts and make something new. My son-in-law loves red and white and I toyed with making a redwork quilt, but it just didn't seem to fit Mandie and what I wanted to do for her. I was looking through a magazine and came across a quilt much like what I made and I "knew" that was the one for her. She is very, very artistic and loves things "outside" "my" norm! It took me about a year to make it. It is all hand embroidered and hand feather stitched. There are approximately 130 "blocks", and the quilt is personalized and I chose items to embroider that reflected their interests. The last week or so that I worked on it, I was worried that they wouldn't like it, because it wasn't red & white (I'd given them the impression that it would be). Mandie had come to visit us one weekend, and I had put it on her bed, so she saw it without me giving it to her (I think I was chicken). But her first words to me were - "Mom, you are so AMAZING!!! It's perfect. I'm so glad that it's not just red & white!!"

So, I guess what I learned is to always follow my heart when making a quilt with love - because that's what quilting is to me - stitching up love and memories for the ones I love!!

Enjoy the Quilt Festival!!