Blogger's Quilt Festival

I just discovered "Blogger's Quilt Festival"

Grab yourself an adult beverage . . . or if you are like me, a large icy Diet Coke with Lime . . . and head over to Amy's Creative Side for some show and tell.

Over the past 5 years, I have made over 50 quilts and quilted over 200 quilts for others.  However, I decided to share a quilt that is near and dear to my heart.  It is not a bright, shiny new quilt, it is not my best, it is not the prettiest, it is not the most fantastic quilting--but it IS my first quilt.  It was made with love and the inclusion of a few symbolic details.  This is an adaptation of  the pattern "Winter Wonder" by Meme's Quilts.

Here in Idaho, we have pretty hefty winters.  After living in state for 26 years, graduate school took my daughter to Las Vegas, Nevada  for 3 years.  Year-round wearing of shorts and flip flops made her really miss Idaho's changing seasons.  So, I made this "Winter" quilt for her and sent it to her the second Christmas she was there.  Made with flannel and homespun, she would always have "winter" no matter where she lived.

It's all machine appliquéd but the characters have hand stitched expressions.

You see, this one is longing for the snowflakes also!

These two snow people represent our daughter and her hubby.  During her high school days, she had a dark teal colored parka that she wore to school and also wore when she went skiing.  She had a matching knit head band that she wore to keep her ears warm.  She loved wearing that outfit because she loved that color.

Well, at this point her coat was long gone, but I still had her headband in our box of winter accessories.

I took the headband apart and made a 3-D hat for the snow lady and with upholstery thread, sewed on a fuzzy 3-D pompom. 

Here is another knit strip used for the man's hat band.

For their eyes, I dug the buttons out of my grandmother's button box.  One set of buttons from her maternal great-grandmother and one from her paternal great-grandmother.  Rudolph's eyes are some old mother-of-pearl hand carved buttons.

I had never used a longarm quilting machine so I called my best friend whom I have known for over 50 years.  We used to sew together when we were kids and we are still sewing~!

Back of the quilt.

She lives about 100 miles from me, so she invited me to come and stay over night and she would help me quilt this quilt on her Gammill.  We had a great time!  We worked late that night and then next morning, her hubby made us sourdough pancakes topped with fresh blackberries topped with fresh homemade whipped cream.  Yes, it was amazing I know.... I felt like a princess~!

Anyway, these trees encircle the entire outer borders as do the stars.  I chose these evergreens to represent the circle of life as they are continuously self-renewing.  As for the stars . . .  she would always be a "star" to me.

   The heart/mittens represent that I will always hold her heart in my hand.

I love her even if she acts a little "flaky."

I wrote a letter to her accompany the quilt explaining all these things and more.  Of course, she loved it, but it pretty much resided on the back of the couch until she finished school.

  Then they moved to Minnesota where it's been on active duty for the last 3 years.