After a long month in a half I FINALLY finished my very first quilt. It was arduous, but its the project I am most proud of.
So I promised my Dad over 3 years ago that I would make a quilt from my grandmas clothes. Actually, I was very adamant about the whole thing because he wanted to get rid of a lot. You know how it is after people physically leave us from this world, we need to let go and move on as we hope they do. Death is a hard thing for anyone, but its harder to have to look at the remnants of a loved one. So anyway, after I kept telling him for 3 years I was gonna do it, I finally found someone to help me and who knew what they were doin so I could learn the correct way. Now I've sewn before, but not in a very long time so naturally, I was a bit nervous lol. Her name is Evelyn and I could not have finished or started this without her. She is a quilting mastermind :)
I'm most proud of this because I actually did it all by myself, the sewing and cutting. Ugh the cutting was the worst!! Evelyn warned me about that haha. But also because to put so much into making something from pieces of the woman that helped shape my life, I am most honored. She was an incredible person and I cherish every memory. Woman had a hilarious sense of humor too :)
...about the quilt
Originally my Dad wanted a queen size, I was like "no way its my first one and that's too much work," well it ended up being that size in the end anyway (your welcome Dad). So after all the painstaking cutting of each piece of clothing and pinning it all together then sewing each piece to each other to make one big square, the damn thing was too small! I was so mad, but my awesome instructor that she is, suggested just to do a thicker border and it would look just as good. I ended up doing a 3 inch dark denim border then a 7 inch lighter denim surrounding that. Although its not too noticable in the pictures, it really pulled together well. Evelyn saved my quilt with that suggestion :) thanks again :)
So after all that it was time to put the backing on (the print wasn't what I had in mind but it worked out really well in the end, sorry no picture), Evelyn quilted the front and back together on her rather impressive machine (this part can't be done by hand or on a reg sewing machine). It looked awesome! Oh yea! I also put photos of my grandma and other family on the quilt before sewing both sides together. It was a nice touch. :) All that was left was the binding (the edge/trim).
I hand sewed the binding on xmas eve 2013 (I know the pictures tell a different date, my Dad needs to adjust his camers) and was up til 1am watching crime shows just to keep me awake to finish. See my heart was set to give it to him on xmas day and it was gettin real close lol. Anyway, I finished, he opened it xmas day (I tried to wrap it like an idiot so he didn't know what it was but he always knows so yea that didn't work) and he cried before he even unwrapped It all the way! I knew that would happen, my Dad cries when he opens a card haha. So naturally I laughed and said "told you so," outloud. I'm glad its over haha but now I have to make my neice one (doh!). So right now I'm on a little break to focus on her bday present (pics to come) and a few other projects.
Lastly, I do want to say Evelyn did sew the yellow tulip on for me, so that def saved me time. Its my grandmas favorite flower so it had to go on. And a huge thanks to her on the whole project. It means a lot to me that I had the help and insight I did and it will never go unoticed. You are an awesome lady and thank you for making the time for me :) I have a new respect for people that sew lol. So thanks again Evelyn!
Sorry but the pictures don't do this work of art justice. Hope my Grandma is astonished by letting me honor her memory and that you enjoyed this, please leave a comment. Good Night ;)
