Cancer Quilt

After we found out Pa had cancer, I got the idea to make him a quilt. I wanted him to have a piece of all of us when he was going through his treatments.

I started by texting everyone to pick out a piece of fabric that represented themselves. I heard back from everyone and went on a mission to find each one. And then I found random extra ones that reminded me of someone so I picked that up. By the time I got it all home, I had three bags full of random fabric. Ma had a couple wine patterns for her, Cornhuskers, and some "country" plaid and stars.  WI had Wisconsin and soccer patterns.  OS had some horse and dog ones.  MS had some chevron and camera prints.  BM had cars and construction.  DJ had Case and Hawkeyes.  I had some horses and softball.  OB had some racing checkers and Cyclones.  CJ had John Deere ones.  G had camo and hunting ones.  I also threw in some dog ones for the grand-pups.

Hmm... Now what pattern should I use with all this to make it look liked planned chaos instead of just plain chaos. I found one I liked. I started cutting pieces. Then I decided I hated it. Back to the drawing board Pinterest. 

And then I found it! I winged (is that a word? Wung?) the size. I wanted it to be a throw for him, but all I could find were small dimensions. I started cutting and sewing and cussing and sewing and ripping and cussing and sewing and then my goal of having it done for him to open on Christmas went by. 

Piecing it together

I ended up working on it practically nonstop so I could get it to him before he left for Mayo. 

He stopped on his way and met us to eat and I was able to give him the final product: 

Front (that's laying on a queen bed)

Back

It's nowhere near perfect. Or square. And I was barely able to snap a few pictures of it before we left, but I got it to him. And he took it with him and used it. And still uses it. (Hopefully I'll be able to get some better pictures next time I go back home.)

While it's not perfect, it was my biggest quilt to date and the one that meant the most. I thought it was a great way to have a part of us with him when he needed us most.

I used this tutorial at Better Off Thread and tweaked it to my size needs.  I'm sure I will use this pattern again soon!