TA-DA!

Begun in the latter half of 2005 as I prepared for the birth of my first child, this quilt has been put on hold countless times, as is the nature of many large projects.

I was making quick work of it until Jack came along 3 weeks early. It is entirely possible that had I carried him to term, I would have finished it before his birth. But I guess it just wasn't meant to happen that way.

Instead, it has been a project-in-the-works for nearly 5 years. But last night I put in my final stitches, and it is DONE!

The front is made entirely out of scrap denim, cut from worn out work jeans, outdated denim jumpers, and too-big or too-small dungarees.

The outer two rows of blocks on three sides are meant to hang over the edge of his twin-size bed (see the darker bits in the nine-patches around the outside? I ran out of my lighter denims and had to improvise!)

I pieced it on my hand-me-down sewing machine, going through countless needles, and somehow managing to get most of my corners to line up just-right.

Instead of quilting it in the traditional manner, I hand-stitched red X's at each corner...

and a zig-zag all the way around the outside.

It is lined with a thrifted flannel sheet and backed with a cotton Cowboy print fabric.

And it is big enough that even if this little boy grows into a 6'3" man like his Daddy, he will still be able to wrap up in it for a cozy, hand-made, Mama's Love warmth that you just can't get from a store-bought blanket.

I don't expect to ever get an award for this quilt, as it is far from being an example of quilting excellence, but I plan to enter it in our little town's quilt show anyway. I want the creative people in this area to see that you don't have to use expensive newly-minted fabrics to create a work of art. Just call it my little way of being a bit of a Repurpose-ing Missionary.