National Parks Quilt

 It’s really hard for me to pick a favorite National Park. I have been to a good amount of them. But what really makes a park special to me is not only the beauty, majesty, and peace they hold, but the memories attached to my time spent there. With that said, Yosemite is probably my favorite place. Zion being almost a tie. It’s where my family has spent many summers, where my nephew and niece took their first big camping trip as toddlers, where I learned to rock climb, where my husband and I took many watercolor lessons and then came back to camp and kept painting, and where I had the ultimate test of conquering my fear of heights hiking up Half Dome. The longest I’ve stayed in Yosemite was three weeks. My husband and I had a great little routine of getting up every morning and riding our bikes. We would go climb for most of the day and in the late afternoon hit the grocery store, make a late lunch or dinner and paint. We got asked several times by the grocery clerks if we were volunteers and where we were staying. 😂 Whenever we go back I just feel so at home. I’ve learned so much about the park. Especially climbing, since we’ve gone to places that aren’t necessarily right off the normal trails. 

A few months back I decided to make my nephew a gift. This boy is not a kid who wants many things so I had to put some thought into what I could give him. He likes knives, geodes, and making leather crafts. Since he’s getting close to being a pre teen, I wanted it to be something he would still like as he gets older. So I decided I would make him a national parks quilt. I didn’t realize the panel I ordered was going to be so narrow. So I improvised with a wide border of brown that reminded me of a tree trunk with its black lines. I found this awesome backing so it could be just as cool on the back. I specifically made this quilt for camping because of the throw size but he’s been using it on his bed too. The kid was beyond stoked when I gave it to him, which surprised me. I told him he has to go to all the parks on that quilt someday. He was counting the ones he’s been too. Being an aunt is pretty special. Usually I will free motion over my quilts but with this one I just did some tacking. This picture was before I got everything smoothed out. I also did a little sock modeling in this shot. 😚

 Since I had one more panel of the specialty fabric I decided I would make one for my trailer.  My favorite color is turquoise so I added that as my border. When we learn a skill, the best thing we can do with it is share it with others. Through gifts or through teaching them. We share our skills. I really enjoyed surprising my nephew. Now he has something that reminds him of his favorite places and memories.

Another sock model 😏