Monday, June 20, 2011

A Longhorn's Sacrifice

I finally finished my top secret project!! YAY!!! Here is the story behind my latest quilt.



In Texas, there is nothing bigger than football. In our house, there is nothing bigger than college football. Our Saturdays revolve around the college football schedule. My husband is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, thus making us Longhorn fans. Although, we live in Lubbock, Tx and he went to law school at Texas Tech University, he remains true to his undergraduate alma mater. There are many rival games in Texas, but none bigger for us than University of Texas vs. Texas A&M....Longhorns v. Aggies. It is part of our Thanksgiving tradition to sit and watch this great rivalry game. My husband has several cousins who are A&M fans, thus making this game even more fun. Oh, the trash talk that goes on during that week. It's great!!!

Well, in May 2011, one of my sister-in-laws graduated from Texas A&M San Antonio. Yes, she is now an Aggie. Poor thing. My heart goes out to her lost soul. Haha. Love you! After several years of doing accounting, she decided she wanted to do more. She pursued a degree in Elementary Education and graduated this past May. I am so very proud of her. When I asked her what she wanted for graduation, she had only one request... a quilt. YAY!!! I could do that. Then she dropped the bomb... she wanted an Aggie quilt!

 WHAT?!?!? Umm.. no way.. no how!!! How could I bring maroon fabric into my burnt orange household?!?! Nope.. not gonna do it.. nuh uh. I told her my machine might blow up as soon as the needle hits maroon fabric and she would have to buy me a new one.

But of course, my soft heart gave in. I would sacrifice just this once... afterall.. she IS family. We started talking about what she wanted on her quilt. All she wanted on it was Aggie fabric and some zebra print. Umm...that was HARD!!! I am a very symmetrical person. I can't handle abstract very well. I thought about the quilt for several weeks. How was I going to combine the aggie fabric and zebra print so that they flowed together nicely? I couldn't make anything work that I was pleased with. I finally went to my LQS for some advice and inspiration. I perused through the fabrics and couldn't find any that looked good. I don't usually follow patterns, because I don't follow rules well. :) Then.. it happened... I found the perfect pattern...an abstract pattern. Funny how things happen like that.


The wonderful ladies at the shop helped me find all the coordinating fabrics. 
There are a few fabrics missing in this stack that made their way into the quilt. Wow... they look good together don't they? I mean... those are the ugliest colors I have ever seen. Haha.

 I was excited to get this baby started.

Strips to cut and sew into squares

I quilted a meandering pattern all over the quilt in maroon thread. Each of the fabrics flowed into each other very well.


I put a zebra print on the back and a solid maroon binding


This quilt is one of the biggest quilts I have made. It measures appx 87"x57". A perfect size to lay on the couch with and watch a movie... or a football game. :)  Now, I need to put this in the mail so I can get this maroon fabric out of my house. Hahah.

 Hook 'Em Horns.



2 comments:

  1. That looks AWESOME!!!! I really miss brainstorming about stuff like that with you!!!!

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  2. Oh, I absolutely love it! I'm not an aggie or longhorn fan, Alabama Roll Tide all the way here.. So I am not biased toward the colors, though I do completely understand. Growing up for me was Alabama vs. Auburn game that everyone gathered around the tv for. There were split households and split family's. It was a lot of fun, but I have to give you many props for making this blanket because I still can't put blue and orange together (Auburn, yuckiest colors EVER). I love the black and white fabrics that you used, it makes it look so elegant-sporty!

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