Gift alert: Susie's Star Sampler

I've been remiss in updating all the great quilt projects I've made lately, so let me get started with this "whopper."

It's a 34-star sampler made for my mother-in-law, Susie. The gift was given in honor of her 65th birthday (Aug. 28), in which all the brothers and sisters, their families, and some aunt and uncles converged at the home place to celebrate.

 Here is Susie getting help from her grandsons, Wyatt and Coleman, with the wrapping paper.

 At this point, the kids have lost interest (since the wrapping paper is off), but Susie just realized what's in the box - a quilt!

 Her oldest son, Eric (my hubby!), helps her unwrap the quilt, but not before Susie admires the personalized patch on the back of the quilt. This patch is important because it keeps track of the of various information pertinent to the quilt. This patch listed the quilt's name (yes, they usually have a name!), whom is it given to (Susie), why it was given (in honor of her birthday), and who made the quilt (yours truly).

As the quilt is opened, you can truly see the joy in Susie's expression. "Look at all those stars!" I can perfectly recall her saying.

 

The quilt was given by "all the kids" and here they are: Nick, Stacy, Susie, Stephanie and Eric.

 Of course, it wouldn't be complete without a shot of the quiltmaker (me on the right!), Susie and Eric.

To get the full perspective of this quilt, I had my friend Becky Deutsch help me display it off of our deck this summer. It's made with reproduction type fabric, which was new to me. Quite a contrast from the hungry caterpillar quilt, huh?

Each star block is very significant to me because it represents a prayer I prayed for Susie throughout the quilt making process. For example, some of the large blocks represent "family" and "health," while smaller blocks are for each of her children, grandchildren, etc. There's even one for her "career." With the quilt came a block-map with descriptions of each prayer and bible verse used during the process.

In all, it took me just over a year from the start of this project to the finish. Of course, I'm marking the start of the project from when I purchased the kit from Homestead Hearth in Mexico, MO. I found the example in America Loves Scrap Quilts Spring 2009 magazine and thought it would be ideal for Susie. I probably made the first fabric cut in August 2009, but put it aside seriously until March 2010, when I was already scheming a wonderful birthday party surprise for Susie.

I just asked Susie how the quilt was holding up now that the weather has turned decidedly more chilly. She reported, "The quilt is wonderful and warm!"