I had to order the fabric with the tires (for Akron, Ohio) and with the lumber (for my son's block because the other lumber fabrics I had on hand were not handsome enough); there are  some other examples where I had to order FQs for specific novelty themes (like the daylilies) . The Scrabble tiles were something I already had on hand for a project I made for a friend. So while my novelty stash was moderately good it was nothing like Dee's so I did have to go shopping for some of my blocks and for the backing fabric.

It would interesting to think that I could inspire other forum members who have lived long enough to acquire enough experiences that they could mess around like I did and make a similar "scrapbook" kind of quilt with no photos, just fabrics and pieced blocks.

It certainly cannot hurt to try ... we all know that there are enough novelty fabrics out there to inspire clever blocks.

Oh, Judy!  This is a WONDERFUL quilt!  You've captured the personality of the maker perfectly.

Would it have worked better for your shoulder to set a timer for maybe 30 minutes and walk away from Lily Aurora for a few hours?  Just pondering a way for you to keep her in your life.  But now I've read on and seen that Other Daughter will adopt her, and that's a good solution.  Would Other Daughter consider doing YOUR long arm quilting for you?  Does she even live close enough to make that a practical idea?

I remember seeing a few episodes of "This is Your Life".  I'd say I was too young to understand what was really going on, but no one would believe me.  LOL!

I'm wondering if you would consider displaying it in a show?  It would most likely be in the running for most inventive/creative and perhaps judges' and/or viewers' choice.

Cris in MT

Kudos on finished your quilt - what an amazing story!   Glad I got to contribute just a little.  and that's great news about Lily's new home.  It's always nice to think of one of our possessions finding a new life with someone who will value & use it.  When I sold my Sweet 16 the lady who bought it was sooooo excited, made me feel so good to make her day (and get some cash to apply towards  my new one).

You are correct in stating that this quilt captured my personality because the older I get the less I care about what other people think. (This does not mean I will leave the house in my birthday suit but I do tend to freely speak my opinion these days.)  I made this quilt for me and my family. You forum members are my quilting family and that's why I shared it with you.

There is no way in blazes I would enter this quilt in a show. For one thing there are too technical errors and for another thing the quilting is too sloppy. The judges would need smelling salts and/or barf buckets because they would be overcome by the chutzpah of the person who submitted such an entry. In years past I entered quilts in the shows sponsored by the National Quilting Association  when they traveled to Columbus and I also sent quilts to a show in Australia. These quilts were professionally judged and so I received written comments. Every time I received the basic evaluation of "needs more quilting" in one form or another. So I know what show judges want and I know I will never meet their criteria.

Yes, Other Daughter would be available to quilt for me someday if I requested such a favor but, frankly, she is probably going to be the kind of quilter that will have a hard time knowing when to stop. I've seen a few of the quilts she's made on  her vintage Singer and she really goes to town when she is quilting on that machine.. Other Daughter is a person I've known since she was ten years old and she was DD's best friend in grade school. The two girls became best buddies the summer we moved here and DD found her on a bike ride around our new neighborhood. We have watched Other Daughter get married and divorced four times (!) and raise her son with a very difficult ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law.

This is all more than you  need to know but it lets you know that Other Daughter is a good choice for a new home for Lily Aurora and I couldn't be happier to have the machine move out of my basement to a house about ten miles away.  Just hope her dogs don't pee on the legs of the frame.

Your crabby fabrics were just perfect and arrived at the right time. Thanks again.

I love what you did with your quilt.  Truly your life's story.  I'm sure you are happy that it is done.   What memories you will have each time you look at it!

Thank you for your kind words, Cathy.  When I look at it now (and in weeks to come) I think of it as "going out with a bang" because I had so much fun making the individual blocks.

I know I could have done a more "professional" job with the final assembly of the quilt but my shoulder and my back and my general overall health just wouldn't cooperate. I guess I just waited too long to work on this thing. But DD knows that I wasn't the amateur that it seems that put the quilt together ...

Judy

The quilt is an art piece, meant for anyone seeing it, to see a portion of the artist's life.  The amateur aspect is just a reflection of the start of your quilting journey.

Jo

What a wonderful memory quilt you made! It turned out splendidly. The stories you posted as you built this quilt are so fun. I hope you put that collection in a notebook for DD..

I guess if DD ever needed to wash it, she could add more ties before.

You could enter it in a local quilt show...no judges.. just a chance for other quilters to see this marvelous creation! who knows, you could spawn a wave of This Is My Life quilts!

(I am thinking about doing one...)

Oh, thank you, Suze, for writing that you are thinking of making one!

I have been hoping that other forum members would be tempted to give this idea a run for the money. (Don't want to think that I'm the only person on the forum that lived an interesting childhood bouncing from schools in one state to another and had adventures like camping with 5,000 other teenaged Girl Scouts. ) 

There's a wealth of information available at the click of a computer key and shopping on line for old souvenir stuff is so easy ....

There I go again ... trying to encourage people to spend money.