Home is Where the Heart Is -- Part 1

Hi all -

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! Most of my time has been spent knitting my first sweater, so I haven't had any accomplishments to share with you. The sweater is getting closer, but still has a way to go. But I've also been working on a wallhanging for my step-niece's wedding. Kelly and John are getting married on June 2. They are both wonderful people and are a really good match!

Several years ago I made a sampler wallhanging for a friend of mine when he finished building his new home. I thought this would be the perfect gift for Kelly and John, too. The main block in this quilt is a house block:

This is the perfect start because Kelly and John bought the home of their dreams a year or two ago. Their home is really important to them, as is their dog, Willie, who you can see peeking out of the window. I was going to give them a white picket fence but the white seemed to stark for this quilt, so I gave them a rustic one instead:

 They are avid hunters, so I had to give them a deer in their yard:

A couple of Friendship Star blocks because they really are best friends:

And the sun, to make their days bright:

And, of course, I had to include a heart to represent their love for each other:

I got all of the blocks put together and was able to get the stitch-in-the-ditch quilting finished last weekend:

I decided not to put on borders because I didn't want to make it any bigger and I thought a simple binding would be the perfect finish to contain this fairly wild quilt. I did the SID quilting using YLI invisible thread in both the top and the bobbin. I wound the bobbin very slowly so that the thread wouldn't stretch while it was winding, and I used a size 70 needle for the stitching. It stitched like butter! The back is a deer print:

This weekend I'll start on the interesting quilting. I know what I'm going to quilt in some areas, have ideas for others, and will wait for inspiration to hit for the rest.

I'll share the finished quilt soon since I have to have it finished by the wedding!

Before we go, here's a picture of one of our visitors last week:

I took this picture through the window on my front door, where the moose was munching away on a bush not more than 15 feet away from me. They are so majestic! I'm very lucky that they come to visit every once in a while!

Nancy