Finished at Last!

One day a few years ago we were having a garage sale. Memaw, Les' grandma, brought some stuff over to sell. I noticed several ladies hovering around a sack she had contributed. I went to investigate and found that they were ooh-ing and aah-ing over these quilt squares that Memaw's mother had pieced but never used in a quilt. As politely as could be, I snatched the bag from their hand and told them that there was a mistake--that bag was not for sale! They (the quilt squares, not the ladies!) have languished in my sewing closet since then (about ten years!).

Occassionally I would take them out, lay them on our bed and plot how I could make a quilt with them. But there weren't enough of some patterns to make a quilt and quite frankly, some of the others didn't appeal to me. There was also the concern of sturdiness. How well will 40 year old quilt pieces hold up?

I'd just put them away and think one day.....

Of course the bag of quilt blocks joined the pile of craft and sewing projects which I had purchased, began and not completed that my husband despairs of!

When Sarah was about eight, she and I made a quilt. Together we chose the fabric, cut out the blocks, sewed and tied it. It was a pastel, mostly pink, creation that she quickly outgrew! Not that it's not a pretty pattern but she soon was on to brighter colors!

Over the years, I have asked Molly several times if she wanted me to make her a quilt but she hates pink and I think she was afraid that the color was a rule so she always turned me down! Then last year, she was digging through the sewing stuff and came upon the quilt squares and decided they were what she wanted for her quilt. And could I finish it tomorrow! (yeah right!)

Molly has always had very definite tastes in color and pattern. She's never been one to have the favorite colors that everyone else wants. When she was little, her favorite colors were purple and orange. Together. And even though her color choices in paint and fabric seem kind of crazy to me at the time, they always work together! So the first hurdle was finding fabric she and I could agree on to join the blocks together.

She and Sarah took a trip to Enid one day together and she came back with the fabric we used. I would never in a million, trillion years have even looked twice at it but it was the perfect choice and really made the colors of the block stand out. I finished the top in July or thereabouts--and proudly displayed this picture on my blog. Of course ya'll weren't holding your breath to think I'd finish it soon! Because I took a little poll on unfinished projects and everyone has them!

Last weekend I finally put it all together and tied it. I wanted to work on a quilt for myself I had just started. (It's a stack and whack. I'll show you another day!) I could no longer take the guilt of the unfinished bedding and decided to get it out of the way! Oh, and Molly's nagging too. of course. But really, I need prodding on this type of thing! Embroidery thread was used instead of the yarn shown here--teal, in case you're interested!

Molly went to Revolve in the city yesterday, a 'Women of Grace' sponsored retreat for teenage girls. I was bound and determined to finish this thing and at last at 11:00 p.m. it graced her bed.

Hallelujah!