Survival quilt...

As promised - here are pictures of "the survival quilt"!!

My quilt top for my mom was finally gifted to her on Christmas eve!

After a year and a half of working on it every spare minute I got - it is finished!

I never imagined when I started that this project would be as big or mean as much as it has...

Each of the twelve blocks were done seperately.

All the wool pieces were hand cut and fused on to the fabric.

Then each piece was handstitched in place.

Sometimes when you work on a project of this magnitude - you get sick of it along the way.

BUT I still absolutely LOVE this quilt!!

It is made of the cuddliest flannel!

And it is jam packed with love in every stitch!

My mom (as a quilter) appreciates every second that went into it and

I love that this has become an "Over the top" heirloom" that can be handed down through the generations as my great grandma's and mothers quilts have been!

I always joke that, I (and my kids) have always been "quilt" people!
We love snuggling and have many great quilts in our house so of course it is special but
I call it my "survival quilt" because when our world got uprooted last fall - there were many days that I wanted to just give up... on work, on family, on projects and on life in general.
This quilt project kept me going - I knew there would be an end result that would show how much I had accomplished and I was determined to NOT GIVE UP!!

SO... I stitched...

while surrounded by good friends and family in conversation,

on the beach, in the car and while watching movies,

while I was shedding tears and missing my old life,

while I was learning what me new life was starting to be like,

while I was happy,

while I was lonely,

while I was hopeless,

while I was determined that life would not always be sad!

SO CHEERS! To the "survival quilt"!!

For me it will always be a symbol of all that I have learned and how far I have come!

I hope years from now - others that I can only imagine - will appreciate

all the heart and soul that come with this quilt!

And yes - another quilt has been started in its place!! Ü

A Happy and Healthy 2009 to each of you!

I love you all!