Tackle it Tuesday and Wednesday

This is truly a one of a kind quilt made by me for a great customer. She wanted blue and gold. She wanted Broadcloth. I admit I said NO! She wanted Blue and Gold, I found this beautiful scroll print in coordinating fabric on Fabric.Com, I think she reluctantly said YES, but that's okay. She is loving it now. I am thankful for my quilters EYE, the one that tells me when fabrics are going to be perfect. That was without even seeing the shirts. It could not have been a more perfect match of color.

I admit that I had the quilt top to this one done before Thanksgiving. I  had intended on sending it the Friday before Thanksgiving but I never  could get the time to quilt it. I took on way too many subbing jobs.  With all the many discounts I provided customers this holiday season I  really didn't have a choice. I felt bad Tuesday when she asked me how  the progress on the quilt was going. It didn't help that it had rained  all Saturday and the winds were so bad Sunday. As soon as Jakob was home  he helped me drag my tables out, sawhorses and cardboard so I could pin the quilt before dark. I was never so thankful for his help.

Tuesday Evening my husband helped me quilt it while we watched a movie he rented. I love all the little appliques from the shirts that I was able to add to the quilt. I wanted every saved memory that was possible to be included.

He had some great sports shirts, college shirts etc. I really loved the way it came together. The fabrics were incredible, even the backing is blue but a dusty blue and it all just worked.

So come Wednesday very early in the morning I did the trimming and binding of the quilt, I decided to use the same fabric I bordered the shirts with. I just felt it would accent it well. Then my dilemma was  how to get it washed. My machine is not quite large enough. I contacted one friend she didn't get back to me, I then took money from my daughter, that I would get replaced after school, and set out to the washateria. Along the way I stopped to get change and thought of another friend. Let me just say it must have been a quiet Nudge from the Lord. I am so thankful she was home and for our visit.

She had some holiday blues. Its so hard as we get older, our kids get older, our lives get busier. I used to do a better job of getting together with this couple. They took on her cousin and are raising her the last two years she has of High School. I am so impressed by their courage and love. I love the life they are providing for her. One she has not had before. I also love that we can both be honest. I was able I think to provide friendship she needed that day in exchange for a washing machine/dryer. It was time well spent too.

My next effort was to get it in the mail. We had youth group that night, I was supposed to pick my daughter up from Drama Club, thank goodness I went home first. I found that it had been canceled. My younger two and I packed the quilt in a box and headed to the post office and then to drop them off at church. I discovered when getting there that the Post Office was not taking credit cards. Since I collect money via PayPal most of the time for orders that was problematic. I rarely have cash, except this day- remember that $20 I grabbed from my daughter to do laundry. Well I still had it. I ran back out to the truck and came back inside. I told her I had $20 and to see what we could do. I could get it mailed Parcel Post and put insurance on it for that $20, actually I still had $1 left on the order. Only the Lord knew this smallest detail I could not forsee. What a great blessing.

So remember how I said that I had contacted one friend and she didn't get back to me. Thursday we spent the day together. It was wonderful.. you'll have to read about it in the next post. Oh and the customer that ordered this quilt, she writes a blog and has offered to do a review on my item. You can follow her at Windy City Momma

I will let you know when her post goes up.