Does the thought still count if it occurs last minute?

I needed to come up with a last minute gift idea for Cory, after accidentally revealing what his real Christmas gift was. It was two days before Christmas, and Cory's only wish was that I wouldn't spend any money on him. My mom, also known as Lord of the Craft, came to the rescue. She helped me whip up a quilt for him, using only scrap fabric she had in her closet.

 We designed each square to portray a part of the story of how we met and fell in love.

1) Cory offered to help us paint our new house. He got a little more than he bargained for that day as he not only helped paint, but also helped clean up a gallon of yellow paint that spilled in my car...
2) He came back for more though, and asked me to play golf with him.
3) Many nights were spent watching movies and...
4) Going out to dinner :)

5) We made Christmas cookies together in December. That was the first time Cory decided to have a serious talk with me about our future together. Aww.
6) We spent our first Christmas on different sides of the country.
7) He took me out on a rainy night and popped an important question!
8) We were married 6 months later.



He was so surprised to open up this gift, and I think I even saw a little teeny tear in his eye (he denies it...). We love hanging out and watching movies and TV together, so it's the perfect thing for us. We use it all the time, and its a sweet reminder of our beginning.

Tips for your own crafty scrap quilt:

• Give yourself more than two days. It takes time to do it right, especially if you're learning.
• Have someone with experience to help. I have very little sewing experience, so having my mom there--a veteran seamstress--was invaluable. 
• Keep it simple.
• Have lots of spare thread! It took us about 4 spools of thread because of all the little details we had to sew around.
• Patience. 

I'm planning on doing something similar with the 9 year old girl I watch after school. We're using fabric markers to draw different pictures on each square instead of fabric cut outs, and using simple yarn ties to keep it together rather than quilting it together

If you've been wanting to try something like this, but haven't mustered up the courage, let me reassure you--you can do this! It can be simplified to any skill level and it's so worth it to feel the rush of pride every time we pull it out!

Lindy

Linking up to Donna's Funky Junk Christmas Story Edition. Coming from 100% junky fabric scraps make me think it fits in well. Check it out to see the other awesome funky junkers.

Also linking up at the Shanty Sister's I Made it Without My Hubby party!