Park City Girl's Quilt Festival

Amy, at Park City Girl, which is located at http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com/ is having a Bloggers Quilt Festival, and I thought it such a fabulous idea that I decided to join. The object is to tell about your favorite quilt and then read about all the other quilters' favorite quilts who have entered.

So here goes the story....Without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite quilt that I ever made was the Sylvia Bridal Sampler. I had read many of Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek novels, and I felt a kinship to Sarah McClure, who funny enough was from Pennsylvania like myself and also moved to a new place and found a guild like myself. So making the Sylvia Bridal Sampler was an easy decision. I discovered that each block was 6 inches, and having never made a Sampler before, I never guessed what it entailed. My goodness, I found out it had 140 blocks, and many of them were very difficult indeed! Well, it turned out to be a wonderful learning experience, and it changed my life in many ways. I bought my favorite fabrics from the Michael Miller collection of fairy frosts, and began my journey. I took several blocks with me to the quilting bees, and as in the book, I worked on each block in conjunction with trying to form friendships in my quilting group. Everyone was amazed at the complexity of the patterns, and especially how small the blocks were, and through conversations about the blocks, I slowly worked my way into the group. I learned so many different techniques, and it was an incredible four months in my life. One quilter from the group has decided to make the quilt also, but most humourously said that they would never have the patience to do a quilt like that. I finally finished the quilt, after working on it diligently each and every day for four months. Joe and I had to go to the Workhouse to take a pic of it, as it was too huge to take it in our home. It was a day to remember, as we attempted to try to figure out how to take a picture of what turned out be a king sized quilt. Yes, king sized, and we have a double sized bed.LOL Joe finally took the pic, and even that day was memorable for me. Joe is the photographer of the family, and he is always there to stand on chairs or whatever is needed to take the best pic possible. I am sure that everyone has a story about a quilt that they made that made a significant difference in their lives, so you might consider joining the list. Oh, just to tell you, the Sylvia Bridal Sampler was made by the characters in the sixth novel called The Master Quilter, and I will never ever get the buzz that I received when I made that quilt.

I think that what I like about this bloggers event is that you get to read about other quilters' lives , and the list of the participants is now very long . I am enjoying reading the stories, and that is the lovely thing about sharing our lives through our blogs...we are forming wonderful friendships. As Jennifer Chiaverini said so eloquently about her characters in her books: "The Elm Creek Quilters learn that friendship is a most precious gift, and that even in the darkest of times, love illuminates the way home." I do agree with that wholeheartedly...We are sharing our lives each and every day, and even though seperated by great distance, we are forming wonderful friendships. So, if you decide to join in, enjoy all the stories and just be totally inspired!

Enjoy the virtual quilt show!