de Jong Dream House: cross quilt

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Quilt #113 :: Cosmic Cross

Back in 2014, I made a quilt for our church quilt ministry that was donated to a local veteran. I called in Patriotic Explosion. It was my 38th quilt, and the first I made exclusively out of my own scraps.

Since then, I've wanted to make another one, but instead of the plus sign in the center, I wanted a cross. It would be a gift for our very special pastor. Mike is a former NASA scientist who made a mid-career change to become a pastor.

The first time we visited the church, we had a trifecta of things that made us realize we were where we needed to be. When we stopped at the visitor's table, we learned about the quilting ministry. During the service, a woman got up to talk about how the church supported her family after her husband's brain injury. Then, Niels and I both looked up the pastor's bio and learned about his NASA background. Our son has been obsessed with space since he was 3. He's now 9. We have prayed for science-y people who share our faith. We looked at each other and just smiled.

We have been so touched by how Mike has made D feel special over the years by answering his questions and listening to his (sometimes) rambling thoughts on all things space and science.

At times, Mike has given D small gifts: a NASA sticker, a space calendar, a science book. He definitely deserved a thank you quilt!

About two years ago, I had D find out Mike's favorite color, green. Shortly after, I selected prints for Mike's quilt. But as all quilters know, it's hard to find time to make all the quilts you want to make!

The hardest part was figuring how to set the lower blocks for the cross, but once that was done, the quilt came together quickly.

My favorite part of the quilt is the label that D made for it. He wrote the words and drew the rocket on regular paper. I took a picture of it with my phone then printed it on fabric backed with freezer paper.

I finished the quilt on Saturday and D, as always, slept with it to make sure it was filled with lots of love.

The light was so pretty when I took the photo at the top of the page. I finally remembered to take a picture of the back, too.

I'm glad we took pictures on Saturday night because the light didn't cooperate as well when we tried to get pictures in front of the church. I did laugh at the timing of the green car that passed us though!

D waited (mostly) patiently for his turn to talk with Mike. He was SO excited to give him the quilt.

It's so fun to deliver quilts in person.

If ever a picture captured D's enthusiasm for talking with Mike, this is it.

Thank you, Pastor Mike, for pouring love into our son, making him feel important and heard, and nurturing both his love of science and faith. We appreciate you so much!

For more pictures of this quilt, look for #CosmicCrossQuilt on Instagram. To see what I'm working on now, please follow me at deJongDreamHouse.

Linked to:
Color Party @ Clever Chameleon
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts & Doll Quilts
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts
Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Linky Tuesday @ Free Motion by the River
Main Crush Monday @Cooking Up Quilts
Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
Moving It Forward @ Em's Scrap Bag
Needle & Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation
Off the Wall Friday @ Nina Marie
Oh Scrap! @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
To Do Tuesday @ Stitch All the Things
Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter
What I Made Monday @ Pretty Piney
Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
WIPs on Wednesday @ Esther's Blog

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Quilt #59: Easter Cross

***NOTE from February 28, 2019***
I just realized I never shared this quilt from 2016! To see what I'm currently working on, please follow me on Instagram at deJongDreamHouse.

It's Easter weekend, which means it's a good time to share this quilt I finished last year during Holy Week. I made this quilt for my son's Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Adkins, who is exactly the kind of person you think of when you think of a sweet little old lady who teaches first grade Sunday School.

Last year, on Palm Sunday, I noticed that Mrs. Adkins was not at church. I was really surprised so I asked about her and found out that her husband of 50+ years passed away suddenly. My heart just broke for her.

As soon as we got home from church, I started looking for ideas. I was really inspired the Carpenter Star Cross by the talented Judit Hajdu of Quilt Fox.

Source

I also drew inspiration for the tulips from Apple Avenue Quilts and A Bee in My Bonnet. I paper pieced the tulip blooms from Apple Avenue Quilts--my first time ever trying this method.

For the leaves, I used the tutorial from A Bee in My Bonnet.

I started with the tulips, because I was most nervous about making them. I followed the awesome video tutorial from Jennifer of Ellison Lane, and she took all the fear out of paper piecing.

I was actually a little sad when I finished this part. (And I have done a lot more paper piecing in the last year).

The stems were traditionally pieced. The Joel Dewberry herringbone print was perfect for the leaves.

Next, I worked on the carpenter cross. I changed the size a bit so that design expanded beyond the cross. You can also see that I vastly underestimated the size of the tulips. If I were to make this quilt again, I would make them smaller for a better sense of scale with the cross.