love builds a home, a finished quilt

I have started this post so many times in my head,

but it never gets very far.

I think I need to begin

as things were before I ever started this quilt...

I keep a running list in my head,

and sometimes on Pinterest,

of what quilt I might make for which person.

Several years ago,

when my dad and Jeannie started
going to Arizona over the winter to help build houses,

I made a note to self

- 'house quilt for Dad' -

and when I'd happen upon one that I sort of liked,

I added it to my Pinterest board

so when it was their turn for a quilt,

I'd have some ideas to pull from.

And then, in Spring of 2016
 we started building our house,

and my dad sacrificed sooo much time

to help us build it,

and teach us how to build

(oh Y'all. I don't know if I can write this.)

and Jeannie sacrificed him,

so he could do that.

I knew that nothing on my Pinterest board was worthy.

There is very little in our house that Dad didn't have a hand in.

In October of 2016,

I invited Jeannie to go to the quilt show with me.

I figured it was something we could do together
 that we'd both enjoy,

but also

I wanted to be able to ascertain what sort of quilts she was drawn to

and what colors she'd like.

I'm sneaky like that :-)

I discovered that she had a preference for traditional styles,

and she liked a red and green color scheme

because at one point she said,

- and I remember where we were standing -

"I really like green and red quilts." 

and I thought,

"Well, that was easy."

As soon as I'd finished piecing Alicia's quilt,

I sat down and designed a couple of house quilts,

and texted photos to Marin,

whom I often bug with that sort of thing,

and asked her which one she thought was better for them.

She thought either would be fabulous

 - because she is so sweet 

she thinks everything I do is fabulous -

so I decided that I should make the more complicated quilt,

because that seemed only fair;

they'd helped so much!
And this was supposed to be a token of our gratitude, after all.

After settling on the design,

I drew up plans and cutting instructions for each different block,

(though my center house was an actual pattern

from a book by Lori Holt)

and even designed two different foundation paper piecing patterns

for the pine trees.

Even though Jeannie wanted green and red,

I didn't want the quilt to be Christmasy,
so I added in yellows and blues that would go in their house

and my 'reds' included a reeeeally wide range,

including pinks and corals.

I was still gathering fabrics when this was snapped

I collected scads of fabrics
(I used 170 of them)
because she'd told me once that she 'liked all the fabrics'

and made the first block July 25th, 2017.

I had hoped it would be a Christmas gift that year,

but,

as we were quite heavily involved in building an actual house

at the same time,

I knew that might not happen.

I had 2 commissioned projects that I was working on 

at the time, too,

and both of them had hard deadlines,

so they were top priority.

I diligently sewed every chance I got

but I didn't come close to finishing by Christmas.

I didn't even finish the top
by when we got together for Christmas,

which actually was in November, 

because they were going to AZ earlier than usual.

No worries.

We gave them a gift card for eating out,

and a certificate for the meal of their choice in our new kitchen

when they got back to Arkansas.

We would give them the quilt then.

I finished the top January 12th

and made the back the next day.

Then I basted it

and started the hand quilting.

I finished the hand quilting early-mid April.

and started machine quilting April 15th.

I'd stayed home from church that day,

and set up a temporary quilting station in the dining room
by laying a piece of melamine board on my portable massage table
(use what you got....)

I had to hit it fast and hard;

because they were coming for dinner in 12 days.
and we'd be camping for 4 of them.

Machine quilting was a nightmare.

You may remember my machine is not so great
with the free motion quilting....

To make matters worse

I chose 80 wt Invisifil thread.

I knew I'd be doing a good bit of traveling back and forth

 over stitched lines,

and Ronda just raves about the thread,

and she quilts beautifully,

so, of course, if I used what she used,

my quilting would be amazing too.

Or some such stupid logic.

80 wt thread is super thin,

and you can barely see it,

so I wasn't overly pleased with how the quilting looked

and my already contrary Juki hated the thread,

but I was so sure it was my best bet

for a beautiful quilt,

and I really wanted my dad's quilt to be extra beautiful.

Firstly,

because it truly was a tangible expression of our deep gratitude

for all of his help.
His help was superb; the quilt should be too.

But secondly because,

I'm still just a girl who wanted her dad
 to think she's pretty great.

And I wasn't so great with all the building stuff.

Oh sure, 

I run on about my badges,

and I did give it tremendous effort,
and even did a decent job for a middle-aged woman
who knew nothing about construction

but building a house isn't really my thing.

Quilts are my thing....

So I stupidly pressed on with the not pretty,

barely visible

(hello - INVISIfil)

giving me fits several times an hour thread.

After a few days of absolute fighting with the quilting,

the machine,

and ridiculously slow progress,

I knew there was no way I could be finished

by my second deadline.

Before they came for dinner on the 27th,
I folded the quilt 

and shoved it in a bag in my closet
and stuck it on the top shelf.

We showed them the work we'd done on the house

since they'd been here last,

and we played a few games.

And that was the last time I saw my dad

before the hospital.

 I never got to give him his quilt.

And yes - I am well aware that he couldn't care less about a quilt
now that he is heaven,
but it makes me sad all the same.

The quilt wasn't just for my dad,
it was for Jeannie, too,
so I needed to finish it.

And I did - slowly

My machine went back to the shop,
again,
and I bought a new machine
(who also does not care for 80 wt thread)

I worked on the quilt as my heart could handle it,
but there were many tears.

What began as a thank-you
turned into a tribute.

Though I'm unhappy with my thread choice,
I'm proud of the quilt.
I think it's some of my best work.

I sewed on the label on Oct 3rd.
Finally finished.

I put it in the local quilt show the first weekend of October.
For display only though - no judging.

And then
in a 'full circle' turn of events,
Jeannie texted me and said,
"I thought I'd come down and go to the quilt show"

So we went together.
And she saw their (now, her) quilt
for the first time.

This is where I'd normally say something nice to
and about the recipient,
but I am so so spent from writing this post
and I know Jeannie understands.
I love you, Jeannie. Hugs and scritches.