Between Quilts: September 2013

You guys! What on earth?! How is it possible it's been months - MONTHS! - since I have last been on this blog? How can that be? Summer - ahh, summer - it has lingered, and lingered, and clung for ever-lovin' mercy to our doorstep. We have had a ton of fun, aaaaaaannnnnd, we are ready to all be back in school. It's time. Mama needs to sew ;).

OK. I have been itching to share this quilt with you. THE quilt. This quilt was made by my sweet friends in That Stash Bee. April was my month to be queen bee and I knew for a while what I wanted to ask for. I wanted to make a quilt for my dear friend Claudia and her family as they endure the loss of Michael. I knew I wanted to make them something to cuddle up in, that would provide some comfort, maybe even some cheer during some dark times. Since the first quilt I ever made was for them, with the embroidered words Faith, Hope and Love, I thought it was the perfect time to revisit those words. Gentle reminders of some important things, and my constant prayers for them. So, I asked my bee mates for colorful stars (whichever stars they wanted to make) and if anyone was up for a challenge, a pieced letter/word to make up those three words.

Well, my friends blew me away with their generosity and creativity! Honestly, I was thinking if a few people did a letter - one letter! - it would help me out, so I was stunned when several of these gorgeous pieced words popped up. And the stars! So many varying shapes and sizes - literally every single block that came my way was absolutely perfect and just what this quilt needed.

This is the back - in my mind, just as great as the front. I pieced that LOVE banner as my starter for the quilt.

We were traveling to see them over the summer and I was strongly hoping I would have the quilt done to give them in person. The members of this bee, in addition to being wildly talented, are very diligent and reliable. Thanks to them, I was able to finish in time for our trip - hand-stitching the binding on during the car ride up.

Being able to share this gift in person was such a special moment. Our friends are living moment to moment every day missing their son, and the first thing Claudia said as she opened it with tears in her eyes was how much Michael would have loved it because of all the colors. I enjoyed sharing how this quilt was a collective effort made by a group of people, and as we poured over every inch, we discovered several special touches. Like on this giant star made by Kelsey - one of the fabrics had dates on it including the year Michael was born.

And on this little star made by my friend Nicole, a bird - one of Michael's favorite things. Several of the blocks had fabrics that had a bird of some kind on it - I had never shared their significance with the group. Another example was deer fabric, and Michael loved hunting with his Daddy. So many small reminders, rich with significance.