Well, here's the story: This past May, my mother-in-law, Teresa, told us that she would be throwing a party on the Fourth of July. She would call it her "Celebration of Life" and wanted us to come to town to help her celebrate ten years of life since her breast cancer diagnosis.
Of course, what better way to celebrate than with a quilt? I got to work right away...
This is a nine-patch and diamond pattern from Me & My Sister Designs. The original was only a baby quilt size, so I had to do a bit of math in order to increase it to this size of 59 x 59 inches. And I did my own thing on the borders, too. The nine-patches and diamonds were constructed with 5-inch charm squares that were cast-offs from Tracy. (I promise I do buy my own fabric, too... sometimes. :) It's just that I seem to use the free fabric so much more often! It's part of the challenge of quilting, I think...) The neat thing about this fabric coming from Tracy is that she, too, is celebrating ten years of life since her diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
After about a week of piecing and some mad-dash phone calls to see who had room on their rack for a quick quilting job, off it went to Logan of Chocolate Dipped Quilts for some gorgeous longarm quilting. Logan did such a wonderful job with this custom quilting. There is a different medallion for both the nine patches and for the diamonds, then three different designs for the borders. I just love it! (And the pricing is so reasonable, too; click on over if you need some quilting done.)
After keeping this secret for about two months, I was finally able to give it to Teresa at her party just a few days ago.
Speaking of celebrating life... while I was at her home, Teresa gave me a quilt that her mother made. So here's Marian modeling a quilt that her great-grandmother quilted about forty years ago!
I just adore many of these fabrics and think that I got the better end of the quilt-gifting
(Linking up to Quilt Story and Crazy Mom Quilts.)
Both quilts are amazing! Marian looks gorgeous, of course! You did a great job!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I hope you have already ordered an 8X10 of that pic of Marian to hang on the wall!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! The celebration of life quilt is absolutely stunning! How blessed your whole family is with your quilting talents! I love the pictures of Marian and Charlotte. BTW, I miss seeing you guys. Love, Trudy
ReplyDeleteYou are such a sweet daughter-in-law AND sweet Marian is beautiful & growing so fast! Love you, Courtney :)
ReplyDeleteDropping by from QS Fabric Tuesday - what fabulous quilts, amazing stories and an incredible cause. Glad to have dropped by :)
ReplyDeleteHa - great minds think alike! Grateful for mothers-in-law worth quilting for. Fabulous job on the quilt - and love your blog, I'm going to add you to my list on bloglovin!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that that quilt is over forty years old - it looks so modern. What a hip great grandmother Marian has!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful gift. She must have been thrilled. And Marian is adorable! What a treasure to have a quilt that her great grandmother made. :)
ReplyDeleteLauren, it looks so good with that red binding on it. You did a great job. I hope she loved it! That's so fun you got a new/old quilt as well. That picture of Marian is too cute!
ReplyDeleteyour quilt is beautiful, I am sure she will love it, and how special to have a family quilt, I too have quilts my grandma has made and I cherish them!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful story to go with a wonderful and gorgeous quilt, well done!
ReplyDeleteLove the colors in the first quilt. Cute baby girl.
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