My Quilt

Awhile back I told you that I am learning to piece quilts and that I was excited about the quilt I was working on. I told you that if it turned out I'd show it to you. Well yesterday I finished it, and here it is. I took the one-day old pictures of all my children to a copy center and had them reproduced in sepia on fabric, and then I put them in the windows and doors of this house. Over the house the pattern called for a star, but I put an angel there which represents our daughter that died at birth.

I've included two pictures because one shows the quilting stitches that were done by a professional quilter and the other shows the quilt hanging so you can see the full quilt with borders and binding.

To do this quilt I learned to applique and I thank my good friend Roma for patiently teaching me how to do that and another good friend Barbara for guiding and helping me with other quilting things.

It is only my second quilt and it has many mistakes in it and there was a lot of unpicking done in the process, but I learned so much and am so thrilled with it. I've made a family heirloom!

As I said in my entry before, there are so many metaphors between quilting and life. This quilt happened one stitch at a time. I'd get one instruction, do what I was told, and then go back to learn the next thing I needed. It took months, but one step at a time it developed until yesterday when I took the last stitch. I love the feeling of accomplishment and every time I look at this quilt, I'm going to feel the joy all over again.