I wanted to commemorate this occasion with something really special, but had several limitations like money, distance that needed to be travelled, and most of all wanting to keep in mind that this wasn't some version of "Catholic graduation". We had already gotten her something in Rome the year before, which she hasn't gotten yet because I forgot to pack half of the things I wanted to bring on the trip. I put my brain to work. I had been wanting to make a t shirt quilt for myself for quite a while, but my family is holding my t shirts hostage. I decided a quilt of Blove's favorite things up to now would be a perfect gift. A momento, that I thought would be cost efficient, could travel well and could save all of her trinkets from her journey thus far.
I learned lots of things about myself during this project.
1)I like to finish things in one sitting and with this project it was NOT gonna happen. There are so many dadgum steps! It literally took me the entire semester, which was probably good because William got all A's and one B+ which I will attribute to his hard work and dedication and my being distracted by this behemoth.
2) Unless something is really messed up, I usually go with the first thing (whatever it may be, try, outfit, hairstyle) that I determine satisfactory. I am always going for a base hit and never a home run. If the stitches were a little crooked, I was like "eh, there are so many, she won't notice." I don't know whether this is a good trait or bad trait, but I was pleased that it was something about myself that I could finally put into words and had a concrete example for.
3) I really love my sister. There were a few times when I was getting really frustrated and I wanted to give up and just buy her something. But I am so proud of the final outcome and it is something she can keep and cherish forever and thats not something I could have bought.
I used this tutorial, which was a perfect resource. Despite what I swore up and down to my husband after I finished Blove's, I am already working on a second and I am gathering up materials for the third one, that will probably be much prettier because I let all the screw ups happen on Blove's.
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| The perpetual helper, or nuisance |
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| before binding |
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| one row at a time |
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| One of my favorite squares, I drew this on gold lame and then razored it out. |
Squares
1) Blove 2) A Minnie Mouse pillowcase we both used. 3)Owls 4) St Therese quote "The only thing I really wish is to love, until I die of Love." 5) a softie 6) uhhhh a pretty print, that may or may not have been a shower curtain at some point in its life. 7)Wedding picture 8) Music notes 9) My favorite square, a picture of her from when she was a little girl, with her monogram. Photo cred to Wendy Farnum Weinert. 10) Cupcakes 11) The other side of the Minnie pillowcase 12) A Grace collage 13) The words to i carry your heart by e.e. cummings 14) a picture of her and me when she was about four 15) The page from The Hunger Games where Katniss volunteers as tribute 16) Wedding picture 17) The sheet music for You'll Be in my Heart by Phil Collins (our song) 18) Baking owls 19) Family picture and the classic Blove and Thomas picture with some more softie. 20)The Mockingjay 21) The sheet music from Blove's eighth grade solo "Tale as Old as Time" 22) Frozen 23)Her middle school 24)....more shower curtain. 25)Cam's Panthers jersey 26)fabric from the very first skirt I sewed for her and animal print (two birds, one stone) 27) Her high school
Truly a labor of love. Oh and an important note, this "quilt" actually isn't quilted. When I was ready to start quilting, I realized my sewing machine didn't have the appropriate accouterments and was running out of time. Heeee :-)
