LIKE MY NEW QUILT?
Okay, so it's not really my style. Or color choice (it looks blue, but only the darkest squares are blue. The rest are really jade and turquoise). But that's okay. Because it's not destined to stay on my bed. This is my first Humanitarian quilt! I just finished piecing the top. Our local DI has a Humanitarian Service Room behind it, and our ward's Provident Living Leader picks up kits from there. Everything's all cut out, and all you do is sew! Sounds easy, right? Well, she had a few of these kits in the Relief Society closet, so I poked my head in there Sunday and took a quilt kit and a child's tee shirt kit.
Uh yeah, so I didn't really realize that the quilt was a double-size. I'm sure it's hard to pawn those off on people, so I'm glad I could do it, but I think I'll be sticking to twin from now on, or how about crib size? That would be a whole heck of a lot easier. Especially because it took over our entire family room floor for two nights in a row. Where else are you going to lay out 110 nine-inch quilt squares to figure out where they're all going to go?
But it's done. I spread it out on my queen-sized bed to see how it turned out. It sure looks queen-sized! I bet it's as big as our store-bought queen comforter.
Anyway, now I think I'll have to piece the backing fabric (that part wasn't cut out for me) and then I'll turn it back in to the ward for us all to tie (the kit came with matching yarn, even) at some Relief Society event.
I've been wanting to do something like this for a while. It was good to stop thinking about my own problems for a while and do something for someone else. My excuses up until now were that:

1. My sewing machine was in Nebraska or Iowa, or sold to somewhere else on eBay by those dirty crooks!
2. Winter's coming, and I really need to make a quilt for my own son (because his was stolen by those dirty crooks, too!) before I start making one for refugees or tsunami victims, or who ever will end up with this quilt.

Well, I have a brand-spankin' new, very nifty sewing machine now. It even automatically sets the needle 1/4" from the side of the presser foot for quilting! I still haven't finished Jared's quilt, but it's almost done! Luckily the weather has stayed warm, so he hasn't frozen to death yet.