AVA'S 130 GOOD WISHES QUILT

No, that wasn't a typo in the title. Ava's quilt has grown to hold 130 quilt squares. How? Even I don't know the answer to that one. All I remember is last Fall sending 100 squares off to the lady that was doing the sewing of Ava's quilt. Then, she contacted me and said she needed about 18 more squares to turn it into a twin size....AND I begged, pleaded and might have even come close to selling myself for more squares (if needed =).....AND I collected them. All 18 of them. Or so I thought. I somehow managed to collect 12 more. I actually thought the quilt lady added a few in to make it bigger for some reason. I was up late last night matching every single square with the wish card.....All 130 of them. Seriously, I still can't wrap my brain around how I ended up with so many. I think this wait is messing with my mind! The quilt is not finished yet, but here is a picture of the top.....I did have to throw a ladybug over one of the squares because it has Ava's first and last name on it. The square was embroidered by Jeff's brother Aaron.....And it's one of my most favorites. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

The corners of the quilt have Chinese symbols that stand for Hope, Love, Destiny and Family.

Here is a closer look..............

Several weeks ago, I knew that the quilt was almost ready to take to the quilter. She is the person that actually stitches the top of the quilt to the back of the quilt and adds "soft stuff" inside (sorry, if you don't already know.....I'm no seamstress =). I then had to decide on what the top stitch was going to be. Did I want puzzle pieces? HELL NO, I wanted a ladybug stitch that I saw on a blog months and months ago. IF only I could remember where I saw it!

The lady that did the sewing and a girl from work made several phone calls looking for a ladybug stitch and both came back and told me that NOBODY has one. They just don't make them. I was very disappointed to say the least. I went home and started reading some blogs and on that very day (on July 15Th) she posts a link to her daughter's quilt. I click on the link and low and behold this is what I see..................THE LADYBUG STITCH!!!!!!!!!!! This is also the same blog that I saw it on months before! What are the chances??!!

I then contact Jenn via her comment section of her blog and BEG for information on that stitch. I was seriously going to fly to Arizona myself to have her lady finish the quilt if need be. No puzzle piece stitch for me!! Jenn is such a sweetheart and called and called her quilt lady (pictured below). Finally, the lady called her and told her she is no longer in business, but she would gladly send me the template in the mail to be used on Ava's quilt!! Fate.....You betcha! Within a couple days I had the template in the mail along with a nice note. The lady said that she had created the template and used it on a special quilt for a special girl named Meili. Now, Ava's quilt will have the same stitch as Meili's and that just means the world to me. Jenn has a log-in-date of March 10, 2006 (just two days after mine) and we're with the same agency. It's very likely that we will be traveling together to get our girls at the same time. Thanks again Jenn for all your help!!

In the next couple weeks the quilt will be taken to the quilter to have the stitch done. If anyone would like to borrow the template for the ladybug stitch.....Just drop me a line and I'll gladly pass it along. I'll post pictures of Ava's quilt as soon as it's completed. Thank you to those of you that sent us a wish and a square. The quilt means so much to us and I know it will mean the world to Ava.