THE Quilt!!! It's done!

First of all: I'm sorry for a few things... 1) That it's taken me so long to get this posted. 2) That the post is forever long, but to do this project, quilt, weekend, etc. some justice it deserves to be lengthy. And finally 3) for never fully comprehending just how much work, effort, sweat, blood and tears it takes to put one of these together. You're amazing Grandma, I'm sorry I don't tell you that enough. A HUGE Thank You to my 3 sisters for helping out so much to get this done, I literally couldn't have done it without you!! I love you all!!!

Next, the story of this quilt... Every time one of my Grandma's grandchildren has gotten married she's made a levi quilt out of the kid's and spouse's old jeans. She calls them "Pockets of Love" because in the center of each quilt there's a pocket from each person, openings facing each other and pouring out their love... I've always wanted one, and it's finally happening!! :)

So Let's Get This Party Started!!!

I packed up my car, grabbed Amy & Emily and drove down to Sunny St George! I forced my sisters to listen to some very old, very bad music but it had us laughing for hours and that's what matters!! So we showed up late Thursday night, this was the state of my quilt. Grandma had cut most of the pieces (we added more as we went) and arranged them in the pattern she's used for everyone's quilt.

On the back of each quilt is fabric that is specific to & represents the grandchild. Naturally she picked patriotic fabric for me!! She bought what was left so I'm getting ready to sew the pieces together in this pic...

Me & My Sisters!!!! THANK YOU!!!

Kacie came down on Saturday morning - that's a long trip all by yourself, I know from personal experience, so it meant so very much to me that she made it!

To start the quilt you pin one row together, mark it on the back so you have a guide for sewing, then sew the whole thing together, then you have to press the back so the little flaps stay down...

then you start on the next row!

This is the backside of the jeans all sewn together: center is done, sides and top/bottom all together and the border in place.

Next step: the jean side is laid on the floor, then the batting, then the back fabric....

We "basted" it together (put a loose stich around the whole thing), cut off the excess fabric and batting and then you sew the whole thing together!

This is Emily... she's very tired of sewing at this point - what a trooper!!

After sewing the whole thing... well, all of it but a little hole at the bottom so we could turn it inside out. My sisters helped me for the most part with this, but once they got me going they made me finish the pulling, pushing, flipping by myself - I'm so excited - we're nearly done!

Then you have to put the quilt up on 'quilting blocks' and tack it down. For those that have never done this, be careful with tacks - it really hurts when you get one stabbed into the palm of your hand... now, moving on... we tacked down the edges, marked with little white dots where we wanted the ties to go and then started tying!!

It's quite amazing to me how difficult and painful this step was... We were cutting the fingers off rubber gloves to give some grip to our finger tips, thimbles and pliers to pull the needle through the fabric, batting and jeans - believe me, it gets really thick!

Breaktime!!

My grandma gives these sand bottles to those that purchase a home. Kacie bought one this year and as the grandparents contemplated which to give her they decided to include me. She said they were so proud of JJ and I for deciding to put off a home and get JJ through school instead. So because no one could say when we'd actually get a home they decided to grant us one early. This bottles are absolutely amazing - hard to tell but mine has a ring of animals, Kacie's has trees... they are just awesome, a piece of art that I'll cherish for always!

The girls took a break and went out to lunch - a mexican place called Paula's that I won't be recommending any time soon... but we had fun despite the not so great food!

Me and Kacie bein' sexy, cool gangsta's!

Back To Work...

Sunday morning we got up and got right to it... Pretty much just have to finish the center and then....

It's DONE!!!!! Grandma just couldn't believe it. We finished the quilt in just 4 days. She has done all other quilts on her own and it's taken weeks and months at a time - I'm astonished that she's done all the work we did by herself - she's WonderWoman I tell ya!

The Front...

The Back...

The center, I got to have a zipper added - so cool! And the patch Grandma adds to all her quilts.

My sisters all brought their quilts so we could see the differences, the unique qualities of each quilt and the work that each one took.

I Love You Grandma!!!!!