Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School

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  • Welcome to my blog!

    Hi! I'm Traci. I'm a Registered Nurse who loves quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and the great outdoors. In my pre-scrubs life, I owned Real Photography, and you can still see my old wedding and portrait photography site here .

    I've created a map that shows links to our camping/hiking/general family fun review posts that you can find here. It's pretty much the coolest thing on this site. Thanks, Google!

    I great big puffy heart *love* comments, so please let me know you visited! I try to always reply!

a christmas quilt a decade in the making

This one was officially in the realm of the UFOs.  Occasional sightings were made in the last decade of this project, a log cabin quilt I started in the final month of my senior year of high school, but for one reason or another, it would always find its way back to a drawer.

In October our guild had a finish-it-up type pledge where you got to choose what you promised to finish.  This was that project for me, and I was so excited to show it.  When I started making it a decade ago, it wasn’t supposed to be a Christmas quilt–the fabrics aren’t overtly Christmasy, but as it came together I was definitely feeling a Christmas vibe, which Will brought out for me when I was basting it and he walked by and said “Thank you for making that Christmas blanky for us!”

So I finished it up in October, stuck it in my closet with the rest of the off-season quilts, and brought it out again the day after Thanksgiving.  I love it!

This is what happens to quilts in this house.  They are really truly beloved.  My helper Will was holding up the quilt, and as soon as we were done Ellie ran over to claim it.  Here is what happened in the following 60 seconds…

Amanda - Great quilt and story…beautiful backing material! Adorable pictures with your girl and quilt.

Sandra in WA - I love the story and the photo journaling of this quilt! Your blog entry has brought me hope that one day all of my UFOs shall also finally be completed!

JoanieinNC - This is so sweet! Love the pictures. The quilt is so cute with great choices of fabric and colors.

Little Bluebell (Adrianne) - That whole series with Ellie is so cute!!

Sheila - I love that you finished a long lost UFO! I have a few of my own that I still hold out hope for…

And the photos of Ellie are great! That’s exactly how a quilt SHOULD be used, in my opinion. 🙂

Mac - Love your log cabin quilt and the story behind it. I finished a quilt at least 10 years plus in the making for a Christmas present last year. Yours hasn’t dated, unlike mine. Have always wanted to make a log cabin quilt.

Susie at ProsperityStuff - Super! Glad I’m not the only one who’s ever had decade-old quilt projects … I finished one like that a couple years ago. And I’ve got another one that I love that’s been at least a dozen years in the making now, and I’m planning to finish it this year.