A Christmas Quilted with Joy and Sorrow

This holiday season was amazing– and emotional– and somehow overwhelming in both the joyful and the heart wrenching.

My husband’s phone rang last night just as we settled back in at home after a lovely Christmas day with family. Jeremy’s best-friend’s wife was on the line to tell us that Josh’s hard-fought battle with cancer ended yesterday. He was only 31 years young. Adding to both the joy and the sorrow, they are expecting their first child in June. It was their dream and I am so thankful that it is coming true.

We are heartbroken for lost hopes and dreams, yet celebrating that he is free from all the pain and disease. I will forever smile each and every time I think of Josh. The world lost a great man on Christmas 2012. I’m so thankful that the world gained a Savior so many years ago. The juxtaposition is bittersweet. Please keep their family and friends in your prayers.

Because I need to share a bit of joy tonight, here is a quilt that I made for a very special young lady. Leanna was one of our first group of 6th grade students when Jeremy and I were youth pastors. We were with them from 6th-8th grade– and they are all getting ready to graduate this spring. Sniff…sniff…our babies grew up!  Our church all wanted to present her with this gift as she walks through a challenging season of growth. My prayer is that this quilt wraps her in love for years to come.

This quilt was quilted by the amazing Heather of B&V Quilting. Inspiration came from Cluck Cluck Sew’s “Strip and Flip Quilt Tutorial.” Please forgive the less-than-stellar photographs. I had to snap these in short order {and with my phone} because Miss Leanna was coming to spend the weekend with us and I needed to sneak this out of the house on-the-quick before she arrived!

P.S. Her favorite color is green, so I pulled most of these prints from my stash in hopes of gaining a slightly ombre effect. I choose the aqua and cream for the back and the pink{ish} and cream for the binding to offset some of that green without pulling too much attention away from it.

I loved making this so much that I think I’m ready to dive right back into another quilt. I’ve had pieces cut for the “Skipping Squares” pattern just waiting for me to get to town for a long time. I believe that the time has arrived. I could use a good & productive distraction right about now.