woodland surprises

Jeremiah has been pretty desperate for a new quilt,

so in October

I decided he'd be getting one for his 16th birthday

(Dec 2nd)

I drew up a pattern

that was basically large patchwork,

but included some chaining 4 patches

a few diamond-in-a-squares

and several somewhat hidden stars,

and promptly started adding 'Jeremiah' fabrics

 to my teals collection.

(though - to be fair, it stretched from aqua to navy)

In November,

as soon as I'd finished a pattern testing project

I started cutting fabrics,

and sewing them back together.

I did this in secret,

in 10 -15 minute bursts

thanks to the knee injury

 I was (and still am) nursing.

remember, we homeschool, so secret sewing gets a bit tricksy.
I set up in our closet, because this was one that was going to have to be laid out for a few weeks

It all worked out though,

and we were able to give it to him

partially quilted on his birthday,

thanks to the Sunday afternoon

he spent at a friend's house

on December1st.

Then,

without having to be sneaky,

I re-loaded the quilt on Lucy

and added horizontal quilting.

Then hand quilted around the stars

and diagonally through the 4-patch chains.

Then added the binding

and hand-stiched it down to the front

using chunky stitches.

I finished it yesterday morning,

9 days after Jeremiah's birthday

and the boys and I

took a little walkabout

on our property in the afternoon

to snap some pictures

in some of the places Jeremiah loves.

Jeremiah is our nature boy

and his quilt is full of (some of) the outdoorsy things he is so fond of.

We love you so much, my boy!

You add laughter and fun

(and a few head shakes...)

to our family.

You are kind and gentle. Silly and smart.

Tough and teasing.

You love your mom and dad.

And most importantly,

you love our Lord.

You're well on your way to becoming an awesome man.

Happy Birthday