The Latest Project(s)

The first 3-6-9 pattern I made for my youngest daughter

Now that the holiday busyness is over, I can finally get back to finishing my latest project. When I found out that my husband was deploying, I thought it would be nice to make a quilt for him and our children that integrated pictures into it of us as a family and individuals of them and Daddy. My idea was it could be something that they could cuddle up with when they miss him, and I called it a "Daddy Hug Quilt." Unfortunately his deployment came a lot sooner than I had expected (I'm also not that fast at quilting either), so I wasn't able to finish the quilts before he left.

I still feel like a novice at quilting, but I was fortunate to find a quilt store here that had very patient and helpful employees. The ladies at The Quilt Company introduced me to the "Three-Six-Nine" pattern, something the store owner, Karen, designed (she also designs beautiful fabrics). It's a pretty easy pattern, and I have enjoyed making them (all 4.)

My son's quilt.

I'm finally completing my oldest daughter's and son's quilt. I sent my husband's quilt off right after I made it, so unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it completed. This is the layout of it, and I had the kids put their hand prints on the quilt. He loves it (adds a bit of color to his otherwise drab "hooch"- like a trailer.) I was also very surprised to find out how cold it gets in Iraq. During the day the highs are somewhere in the 50's and at night it can get well below freezing. I knew the desert would be cold at night, but I thought it'd be warmer during the day.

Lately the kids haven't asked as much where Daddy is, but I think the holidays was a good distraction for them. In March Daddy is coming home for 2 weeks, so I think they'll "need" something like the quilts all the more after he leaves again. Fortunately, after March there will only be 4 months left of the deployment.

My oldest daughter's quilt