Suzanne in VT

I plan to hang it on a wall in my home so that the rays of sunshine and happiness are experienced every day.

I tend to be the Queen of UFO's, but this was one quilt that I didn't want to turn into a UFO.

I have never made a quilt/project that I was more in awe over. I say that from the bottom of my heart. I shared with my oldest daughter (28) and she asked if I would put it in our Will that she receive this...hehehe. Great to know she loves it that much too.

This quilt holds a special story for me as well. In September, 2018 I made the decision to leave my job of 20 years due to medical problems (brain tumor...craniotomy could not remove all of it...radiation therapy...now suffering through a tumor wrapped around my Trigeminal nerves and scar tissue in that area from the radiation as well). As I stitched these blocks in 2018 it was like mental therapy for me. It allowed me to give in and understand that I needed to admit I could no longer do my job any more (accounting). I gave my notice and walked away so that I could focus on only me and my health. That is a huge thing in my life because I have a hard time focusing on me. That is a struggle all by itself.

Anyways, I look at this quilt as a journey of discovery in my personal life. Every stitch assisted me in one way or another and that is such a beautiful thing.

Someone asked the size of the quilt...it is 45" x 45". Someone else asked if it was blue wool. The answer to that is yes. Almost everything is wool, with the exception of some colorful cottons, velvets, and ribbons that are added in layers on the wool applique.

Sue announces her annual BOM's on 10/1 of each year and just announced the 2020 BOM. Now that I am done her 2018 BOM, I plan to partake in 2020. The overall cost of the quilt is expensive, for sure, but you pay monthly. You also get hands on attention throughout the year because Sue has 2 of her employees moderate a Yahoogroup to answer all of our questions, people post their progress, etc.

Someone else asked about the expense of the quilting. This is the first custom quilting I have ever had done, so I was basing it on what I pay my regular machine quilter to do edge-to-edge quilting. I didn't feel like it was too much at all. I used wool batting and a cotton backing on the quilt as well. Total cost of everything is about $1,200-$1,300 and I would guess I have 450ish hours into it. Again, this is my first quilt to do all that decorative embroidery stitching, so there was a learning curve for sure.

Sue offers a class on Craftsy/Blueprint that is really great if anyone is interested in that. I am totally hooked on her happy and positive (and unusual) folk art quilts/colors.

Thanks to everyone for your kind words.

Suzanne in VT