Quilt and Corruption

I can't get enough of this Illinois corruption scandal! Let me tell you that none of this comes as any surprise to anyone in Illinois. What is amazing to people I talk to is the lack of finesse Blagojevich used in soliciting payoffs. This is hardly a dark time for Illinois. Things look brighter here all the time at they throw more and more if these corrupt politicians in prison.

Okay so back to crafting. I made this quilt for my brother when he got married 10 years ago. I think I gave them a regular gift and then got this to them sometime in their first year of marriage:


I remember having a whole set of fabric purchased for another quilt. My brother didn't want anything that was regular blocks. He wanted something that had a pattern that changed across the quilt. (My brother is sweet, he really had no idea that he was asking for something that was a stretch for me, a newer quilter, to make.) This pattern was on the cover of my Quiltmaker Magazine that came in and I knew that he and his wife would love it as they are big fans of color. The pattern wasn't that difficult but the setting of the blocks makes it really effective.



I machine pieced and hand quilted the whole thing. Hand quilting is happily something I never do anymore. It took a lot of work to finish, but I was really motivated and I think it took a few months to do.


At the time, I didn't know that it isn't such a good idea to trace quilting patterns with pencil because you can still faintly see them.



This was in my professional "Susan" period. I've since returned to the name I've had my whole life, "Susie" and only use Susan when I'm trying to get serious with some customer service department on the phone or something like that.

Now I am into holiday gift crafting. I'm afraid to photograph those things because I am afraid the family will see them. I think maybe it is only Mom who actually reads my blog regularly so I probably have nothing to worry about.