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Cross for Comfort


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My wife and I are now in Florida in the RV for a month, so there's no long-arm quilting going on - just some piecing.  But before we left, we put together this quilt in about a week and a half.  Our daughter was discovered with cancer of the gum in December and had surgery this month to remove three teeth and some bone.  The cancer was all removed, she is healing well, and they have given her an appliance to fill the space, but she is really disheartened and having to struggle with emotions and fears.  So my wife decided that she needed a hug from us, even though we could not be there.  This is pieced with cotton on the top but a Minky backing and thick Hobbs wool.  It's really warm and friendly.  And when I was done quilting it, I was amazed to see how great the quilting looks on the Minky side.

If you look closely at the gold border, you'll see a football at the top (for her husband the Steelers fan), icons for Paw-Paw's Butterfly and Paw-Paw's Princess on the sides (for her two marvelous daughters), and an extra heart on the bottom to represent herself and her love for her family.

Quilting with a Minky back was a bit of challenge, and I turned to some posts on this forum for some great help.  Thanks to you all for the advice that you post.

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Eric, the quilt is absolutely beautiful.  I am so sorry to hear about your daughter.  Prayers for her and your family during this time for her healing.  I am sure the quilt will bring her comfort and joy.  I really like the feel of Minky but have not gotten brave enough to try to use it yet.  It really looks nice on your daughters quilt.  I love how you used the straight line radiation quilting from the cross.  I'm sure the little add ins on the gold border is very special for them all.

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Eric, thoughts and prayers for your daughter an family.  The quilt is beautiful.  Did you use a pattern or design the piecing?  I would love to have a pattern.  It's sometimes difficult to find a nice cross design.  Your quilting is on spot,  I love it.  I've been longarming for 10 years and just recently got brave enough to do minky/cuddle backing.  The guys and gals on here gave me the courage and instructions, not it's my go to backing!  Enjoy the sunshine, it's cold here in MI. 

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4 hours ago, Gator said:

Eric, thoughts and prayers for your daughter an family.  The quilt is beautiful.  Did you use a pattern or design the piecing?  I would love to have a pattern.  It's sometimes difficult to find a nice cross design.  Your quilting is on spot,  I love it.  I've been longarming for 10 years and just recently got brave enough to do minky/cuddle backing.  The guys and gals on here gave me the courage and instructions, not it's my go to backing!  Enjoy the sunshine, it's cold here in MI. 

Connie, my wife Beth found a bunch of quilts like this on Pinterest in different colors.  There's a pattern out there somewhere, but we just worked it out from the pictures we had.  (Of course, with some changes.)  Our version is all based on 2" strips (1-1/2" finished strips), so it's a matter of simply counting how many strips are in each dimension.  The cross itself is a double width of 3-1/2" strips (3" finished).  I guess if you did it with 2-1/2" strips the quilt would be a bit bigger.

I was ready to use a single fabric for the white background, but Beth insisted that it had to be several fabrics.  She was right - as usual.  The variations in color add a lot of interest to the background.  There are four fabrics in the background, and we just worked our way outward on her design wall, cutting and choosing "white" fabrics for each band as seemed good.  The strips near the bottom tend to be darker and cooler than the warm/bright strips near the top, so that there is a natural "footing" to the background.

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Prayers for your daughter, Eric.  It must be a scary time for her.  This quilt is stunning!  Your color choices are simply beautiful.  And...I love the circle around the cross with the straight lines radiating out.  Leaving some lines out of the inner circle just makes it look more beautiful.

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Eric I too really love your color choices and quilted it perfectly .  I was reading your text while glancing at the quilt and when you said you use minky I said to my self OH wow they used minky in the border.  Then read on and you were saying it was on the back.  But it does look like minky on the front!  

I pray your daughter and family can look to the cross for hope and comfort. Having gone through cancer I realized cancer is not the big c Christ and what He did on the Cross is the BIG C!  Prayers for you all.

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On 2/6/2018 at 8:54 AM, Gator said:

Eric, thoughts and prayers for your daughter an family.  The quilt is beautiful.  Did you use a pattern or design the piecing?  I would love to have a pattern.  It's sometimes difficult to find a nice cross design.  Your quilting is on spot,  I love it.  I've been longarming for 10 years and just recently got brave enough to do minky/cuddle backing.  The guys and gals on here gave me the courage and instructions, not it's my go to backing!  Enjoy the sunshine, it's cold here in MI. 

Gator,  Here is a pattern for sale.  I'm planning on buying it and trying to make it.  It's quite beautiful.

 

https://www.craftsy.com/quilting/patterns/carpenters-star-cross-42-x57-/213576

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  • 2 weeks later...

MY DAUGHTER WAS IN A CAR ACCIDENT DEC 2 AND IS STILL IN THE HOSPITAL WITH  A  TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. I WOULD LOVE TO MAKE THIS, WE LIVE 6 HOURS AWAY FROM WHERE SHE IS IN THE HOSPITAL AND CAN'T ALWAYS GET TO HER.  WHERE DID YOU GET THE PATTERN IF YOU DON'T MIND SHARING.

THANK YOU/

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Just google "Cross Quilt" or Log Cabin Cross Quilt, there's lots of versions of the quilt.  I loved it too and wanted the pattern.  Dave posted one of the links to the pattern above.  It's just beautiful and simple (perfect).

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 2/9/2018 at 10:25 AM, Pepsi Girl said:

@EHonour so based on your 1 1/2 finished strips how big  is the center of your quilt?

Sorry to be so long answering.  It's been a busy two months in the RV.  The center is 39"x51".

BTW to all, my daughter Carla is doing very well.  She even ran in the Disney half-marathon a month after her surgery!  The doctors still say they got all the cancer.

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