two things i learned about quilt blocks

1) They are a lot of fun to plan, create, invent, work color schemes, etc.

2) They are a lot harder to actually sew than it would at first appear.

Our Quilting Day Blitz at my church was a spectacular success! Over 200 quilt blocks sewn in one day! It was fun helping kids (and adults, but I mostly stuck with kids) make something that looks really awesome at the end- something they didn't think they could do. It was also fun watching all the interactions between everyone there- my 82-yr-old Mennonite grandma who's made more quilts than you can shake a stick at who came up to help, my aunt JoAnn who made her own very first quilt block but was an expert sewing machine sewer resource and "mentor" for several kids, my mom who started helping a first-time adult quilt-block maker and ended up spending all day with that woman making one of the most intricate quilt blocks of the day (no, they didn't really know what they were getting into... well, my mom did kinda but couldn't abandon Judy once they'd begun- and it WAS awesome), all the kids interacting, the teenagers (including BOYS) making blocks for the youth pastor's ordination quilt, all the adults chatting, hanging, asking for and giving advice, encouragement and praise... it was so cool.

It was also incredibly exhausting. Wow. The hot tub at mom's hotel was certainly appreciated...

So, I did make one of my own. And I would very much like to continue to delve into the world of quilting. But here's something I learned about quilting as a process: it also is a lot harder than it would appear. Time intensive. The blocks are all done, but now people have to take all the blocks for each quilt, make sure they are all a uniform size, cut all the material that goes in between all the blocks, sew the material and blocks together, then actually quilt or knot the pieced quilt-block top to the one-piece backing, and then bind the whole thing.

I always knew that quilts were the products of a lot of time, energy, (and in my case with my grandma- LOVE) but this experience has started to show me exactly what all that time and energy and money really looks like.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the time spent laughing (a lot) with some of the wonderful women in my family. Mom, Grandma, Jo, Cindy and I laughed until we cried at points... we also enjoyed Thai, Mediterranean, and Cambodian food, Cambodian traditional dancing (at a Cambodian New Year celebration hosted by the Cambodian congregation of our church on Sunday), and playing games (with Dana too) and laughing some more. All in all, an excellent weekend!