When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Have you ever met someone who is so wonderful, but for some reason seems to get more than their fair share of bad things happen to them?  We have friends, who we love dearly, who have tried for a very long time to have children.  They are the type of people who you just know will be the very best of parents.  Ask anyone who knows them and they would say the same thing.  They are kind, caring and some of the most giving people I know.  I really ached for them.  I cried I was so excited when I found out they were going to have twins- a boy and a girl.  I cried again when they found out their little boy has anencephaly (a defect that causes the skull and parts of the brain to not form correctly or at all).  These babies usually are born stillborn or only live for a few hours.  

My first gut reaction was, "Why?!  They have already been through so much. Why do they have to go through this as well?"  And then I started really thinking about their reaction and how incredible they have been in the face of such difficult news.  They are so inspiring to me.  Here they are with such emotional, devastating news and yet they are comforting those around them and making everyone  feel at ease when it should be the other way around. They have somehow found the good in the situation.  Their example has reminded me how each and every one of us has struggles and goes through difficult things in life, but it is how we choose to respond to these challenges that really defines us and solidifies our character (for better or for worse).  They have a difficult road ahead of them.  It will be a mixture of joy and deep sorrow knowing she will give birth to two babies but only come home from the hospital with one.  I am in awe of their eternal perspective and how blessed they feel to have both of them as part of their family.

As soon as I heard the news last week I knew I wanted to do something for them.  I can't change the situation, but I can give love and support.  I set about making a quilt for their little boy right away.  They already have such love for him and want to celebrate his life, however short it may be.  I plan on making a quilt for the little girl as well, but I just felt an urgency in giving them something tangible to hold onto throughout the rest of her pregnancy.  It may sound odd, but while he's still alive inside of her this is their time with him.  For the last 4 days I have spent every extra second I had thinking about and making this quilt.  Life has been super crazy, but I can't even begin to tell you how special this quilt became to me.  I had such a sense of direction and peace envelop me as I worked on it.  When I saw Elizabeth's Heart String tutorial I knew I had to make that the focus of the quilt. They have such a strong love for their little boy that a heart was the natural choice.

I also wanted to make it as personalized as possible in the FMQ.  They have focused on their knowledge that they will be an eternal family and that they will all be together again forever.  I wanted to somehow convey that in the quilt.

I thought this print was extremely fitting for the back.  The message is perfect and it's a cuddly flannel.

It has been a very emotional couple of days, but it has made this quilt a work of pure love.  I cried with her as I gave her the quilt this evening.  I am truly humbled by the faith of her and her husband.  The journey of this quilt was very personal for me as is their story.  If you would like to read their own thoughts you can read it here. 

I debated about sharing such a personal story for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, but in the end I think it is experiences such as these that makes quilting so special and knew it needed to be shared. (Also Linkin' up to TGIFF)

Heart Strings

I just love using scraps.  Sadly, after making 30 string blocks to form the heart, it barely put a dent in my scraps at all.  I'm thinking a huge scrappy quilt is in order...one of these days.  Meanwhile, I love this heart block.  I used Elizabeth's tutorial here.  

Personalization

They may not have decided on a name yet, but since the last name in nonnegotiable I decided to applique her quilt with her soon-to-be last name.  I believe she should be making her debut on earth in about a month, so that's plenty of time to quilt, bind and send. 

A Friday Finish

I'm proud of myself for finishing this quilt with plenty of time to spare.  Well, I say that now, but maybe I should hold off on the shoulder patting until it's off in the mail.  This quilt is for my Grandpa Stuetz.  He turns 91 on the 31st.  Growing up it was pretty easy to remember Grandpa's birthday since he shares it with Halloween. 

I used the design from Moda Bakeshop: Positively Perfect Nap Quilt by April Rosenthal.  The back is just more yardage from this Lotta Jansdotter collection.


Linking up to TGIFF over at Quilt Matters this week!

 

Mundane Sewing

I fully admit that I don't enjoy repairing clothing even if it's only hand sewing on a button or fixing a tag on a tie.  I put it off for as long as possible and sew the things I like instead.  However, the pile was getting a little out of control, so yesterday I finally sat down and repaired everything except for one dress (I need to get some matching thread).  I have to say it feels nice not to see that pile sitting there anymore.  Now I can sew what I want with a guilt-free conscience.

Small Amounts of Progress

If only there was more time to quilt!  Unfortunately, life has a way of being busy and getting in the way.  :)  I did manage to piece together this baby girl quilt top this week.  I need to add some applique to it, but the base of it is done.

I also had some quilting issues with my plus quilt this week.  I still need to make the border and attach it.  This needs to be done and mailed before the end of the month, so I probably should get going on that.

Other projects
Skill Builder- I'm behind 2 blocks

do.Good Stitches- need to do October blocks

Sisters BOM- new blocks come out on Friday
Christmas quilt - probably should be on the radar, but it's not

 

Upcoming projects

Madrid Temple Wholecloth quilt (can't wait to start, but it keeps getting pushed back with more time sensitive projects)

Stats for the Week:
New projects - 1
Completed projects - 0
WIP- 6

Rules For a Reason

Surprise, surprise!  I tried to quilt the opposite of the recommended way and it did not work in my favor.  I confess I rarely start in the center of the quilt and work my way to the edges when quilting, and for the most part I don't have any issues.  Not so much this time around.

I have no idea why, but the stretching and movement on this quilt top is the worst I've ever encountered, and I was even only doing straight lines.  I got it off the machine and it was even worse than I had originally thought.  The weird thing is that up close it bothers me A LOT, but when I look at the quilt as a whole the puckering forms an X across the entire quilt and it's kind of cool looking in a bizarre sort of way.  Do you think it will look better or worse after I wash it?  The crazy thing is that the quilting looks perfect on the back of the quilt.  Sigh.  What to do?  What to do?

Never Sew While Distracted

I had some responsibilities from church weighing heavily on my mind and I thought I was still paying enough attention to my sewing, but I guess not.  I lost count of the number of times I used my seem ripper for these Sisters BOM blocks.  The harder I tried to pay attention the worse it got.  I was so relieved when I got to the final step that I let my guard down and sewed the final segments together backwards.  Awh man (palm to forehead)!  It may have taken me twice as long as it should have, but at least now they're done.

September's Blocks:  Sister's Choice