If quilts could talk what would this Calvert family quilt from east Texas tell us? First, I am 84″ long by 68″ wide. My maker must have run out of fabric for the binding. The backing was used for the top and bottom with scrappy side bindings. My quilt pattern is a four-patch (I know not my name), placed on point, with triangles set in long vertical rows 6-1/2″ wide. I was hand pieced and quilted decades ago. I am also in better shape than most with my binding intact and a few holes throughout. Stains are also minimal. My fabric appears to be old shirts in red, navy, black, off-white, with a smattering of pink, which I quite like. It can be assumed of the 20 plus quilts that have traveled to Life’s Loose Threads’ abode, I am newer than most.

The following is how I honored this quilt – I made Christmas ornaments, heart-shaped pillows, Christmas stockings, and crosses (two-sided) stuffed with rice (most adorned with a heart). The last photo are mini-quilts (six inch squares are two-sided) with inspirational sayings. I found a panel on Shabby Fabrics that had a dozen psalms in white and off-white and sewed a pink heart on the back.

What I learned – Pinking shears are not kind to human hands. However, they make a lovely finished edge. After creating a few of the small heart-shaped Christmas ornaments, I switched to larger items like the crosses, heart-shaped pillows, and Christmas stockings. I also traced with a heart-shaped cookie cutter pink fabric from my stash and added one to some of the crosses and all the pillows. I found the pink hearts are also great for covering up a little worn spot on the cutter quilt pieces.

A quilty friend is inspirational to a project – A few months back, Janet texted me with an idea to make double-sided crosses stuffed with rice out of cutter quilts. She was thinking of a friend going through a tough time and thought it would be a nice gift. Janet created a template and asked if I was game. We had the best day creating a prototype cross. They are 9 inches tall, and because of the added weight of the rice, fit nicely in the palm of a hand. I’ll be making lots more of these.