November One Month Goal & Favorite Finish

November seems to have slowed just a bit for me... perhaps it was the fact that I was recovering from shingles and then caught a chest cold.  

Despite less than perfect health, I did meet November's One Month Goal of quilting and finishing my Pieces in the Garden Row Quilt.  Woot, woot!

Since this quilt is based on the story of a "Bride's Quilt" I would use the small chapel/storage shed that is down the road from our house for the backdrop.

I chose 5" clamshells as the quilting design... a little larger than traditional, but it offeres a nod toward heritage style quilting.

Each row of blocks tells a portion of the lives of my Maternal Grandparents, Forrest & Tressie Teegarden.  

“Bride’s Quilt”

Once upon a time, there was a little girl, who wore a bow in her hair. When she grew up, she began a friendship with a young bachelor. As the hours and days passed, they began to look at each other with stars in their eyes, and as their love grew, they thought about taking steps to the altar. So, the young girl got out her spools of thread and made clothes to get ready for their wedding ring day.

After they are married, some of their times together will be bright as noon and others will be dark as night.  But they will try to share their happiness, their miseries and their chores – she grabbing a wrench to help with household repairs and he grabbing a towel to help with the dishes.  Sometimes they will have broken dishes, but they will try to remember that “things” can be replaced, whereas harsh words, possibly spoken about the broken dishes, could chip away love.  They will try to follow the Golden Rule as they are learning to communicate openly with each other.

They will also try to keep in mind the symbolism of Jacob’s ladder – “steps of communication” between themselves on earth and God in heaven.

In keeping with the "wedding/bridal" theme... I used a pre-printed Double Wedding Ring panel for the back.

Here are a few more photos... just because. 😊

Challenge faced and overcome!  This quilt has been nearly a year in the making and it feels good to have it displayed on the back of our couch.  I have one last pattern to be released on December 8th.  You can find all of these patterns in my payhip store.

I am so happy that I had my grandparents share their memories.  I have a free document ~ Priceless Conversations ~ in the store that will help you record your memories, or use it as a springboard for asking your parents or grandparents about their lives... 

Who do you want to sit and have a priceless conversation with?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you.

Keep piecing,

Melva

Linking with:

One Month Goal at Elm Street Quilts

Favorite Finish at Meadow Mist

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Free Motion Maverick at Quilting & Learning

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting

Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch