The Quilt That Took 18 Years to Finish
by Donna Mitchell
All quilts have their own story and every quilt's story deserves to be documented. This quilt is special to me because it was my first and for the memories it holds. My husband and I purchased our home at the lake in 1990. I started this quilt for our bed in 1991. So it is now 18 years old. (Of course it was put away for awhile). It was to be all hand-pieced and hand quilted. I pieced every block a different pattern. The center Peace Dove is my own design. The colors matched our bedroom decor. I would set with my husband in our living room and sew on the quilt blocks while we watched TV. Night after night this would be our routine, our time together. I got all of the blocks done and he watched every shoot-em-up ever made! I finished the sashing and borders in the summer of 1993. I finally sandwiched the quilt and started on the hand quilting. My sweetie used to say that this quilt will never be done in his life time. It wasn't. He went to be with the Lord on Nov 9, 1993. That's when it was put away. For 16 years. Then one day I unpacked the quilt and one look at the 3 hand-quilted center blocks and I had an epiphany! This quilt will not be done in my life time either! Mahatma Gandhi said "You must be the change you wish to see in the world". My wish was to see this quilt finished, on my bed, and loved as it was intended to be. I knew I had to finish it....Now!! Being the sensible, practical person I am, I also knew it would be done a lot faster if I machine quilted the rest of it. So I did! In Feb of this year! No, it is not ALL hand made, but it was made by me, it is mine, and it is already almost 20 years old! It is finished, it is on my bed and it is loved for all the memories that keep my heart warm.
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