First Quilt of 2010

My first quilt of 2010 was made

for one of my dearest friends, Suzette.

The picture was taken on 1-9-10 just after the funeral luncheon.
I'm so happy my husband caught a smile!
It was a very sweet moment together as we said good-bye to each other.

The name of the quilt is. . .

"Remembering Rachel"

I dropped everything I could to get this quilt sewn, quilted, and bond before we left for California on Thursday, January 7th for Rachel's Funeral on Saturday, January 9th. My friends daughter, Rachel fought Leukemia for most of 2009 and passed away just before Christmas. Rachel had decided to do a bone marrow transplant and fought hard before her body could no longer fight off the infection that took her life on December 23, 2009.

Her family misses her deeply. Her mother said one thing to me the day after she died that prompted me to make a quilt for her. She said, "I feel so empty." I could feel the emptiness that filled her heart and I ached for her. So, I went to work making a quilt that would help fill a bit of the emptiness and be a reminder of the love that's still all around her. The funeral was well attended and you could feel the love everywhere.


Rachel was 27 years old and brought so much happiness to those around her, even when she was at her lowest point. She had so much faith, hope, and concern for others. Many of her friends would often come to visit Rachel. She would listen and always wanted to help her friends, the nurses, doctors and other patients. She often brought a smile to the faces of those that came to cheer her up. The one thing that people will always remember about RACHEL is her infectious SMILE! I've known Rachel since she was a little girl and she ALWAYS had a SMILE on her FACE.


I asked my quilter to quilt an "R" inside of 27 hearts as a reminder of the 27 years that she lived here on this earth. I also asked her to quilt a heart design in each block, sashings, and in the border. I love how it turned out. You should be able to see the Hearts with the R's in them. You can click on the pictures to get a better look.

The quilt pattern is a revised Moda Bakeshop pattern by Roslyn Mirrington of Bloom & Blossom. You can find her MBS tutorial here. I just added sashings, posts and made the quilt a bit smaller and left out the applique. Everything else is the same. It's a great pattern. Go check it out today. You'll LOVE it!