Hi Mary,Yesterday I took the quilt top I am making for Operation Migration to the long-arm quilter. I have chosen and cut the backing, the binding and selected the thread color to quilt it. She promises to have it done for me by the first of September so I can get the binding on and have it finished for the Necedah Crane Fest the third weekend of September.
I am really happy with this one. This is the first one I have tried to put up more than just a One-Block Wonder style quilt. In this one I have designed an Ultralight in flight and 18 cranes flying behind it. It was sort of hard to arrange the cranes. I could easily have put them in line one after the other but that wouldn't have looked 'right'. So I guess this is a Crane 'rodeo'. Perhaps just after lift off on a fall day in Tennessee (maybe) with the Cranes fighting to get up to the wing and into position for the flight.
I chose eighteen cranes for the lost 2006 cranes. This is also sort of a memorial quilt for the lost 2006 cranes. They are still flying in my heart and so they are flying now in my quilt. I put the lightest hexagons in the middle where the triangle cranes are positioned so they are flying in the light.
Although it makes me sad to remember them, I am proud of the quilt and the meaning it has for me.
This is the first Operation Migration Quilt I made. It was raffled off at the Crane Fest in 2006. It was won by Heather Ray. And I remember watching her write her name on raffle ticket after raffle ticket so I am sure she bought more than anyone else that day. I saw Joe Duff slip her some money for tickets. I wonder if she shares it with him?
This is last years Raffle Quilt. It didn't get raffled off until 2008 and I would have to look back to see how long it took the Cranes to get down to Florida. Late January I think. Anyway we had a lo-ong time to sell the tickets last year instead of just the one day of the CraneFest. I was happy to learn that Deke Clarke who is one of the original pilots for OM won that quilt. He didn't even buy a ticket either. His 'better half' bought them and put his name on them because she "never wins a thing".
I expect my family to get together and buy a ton of tickets this year cause I really don't want to let the quilt go. But, just like the OM people every year, I guess I will have to let it fly free. That is the reason we do all the work.
Love,
Nancy
Okay, I'll pass the word around that we're supposed to fork out for your quilt. If I win it, do I have to give it back to you?
ReplyDeleteNah, Just as long as I get to visit it occasionally.
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NC
Hello Nancy. I wanted to thank you for the card, directing me here, and to tell you that, when I opened the box with your quilt in it, I cried. My partner asked me why I was crying, and all I could say was, "Because I love the cranes." I believe that things that we "put ourselves into" (like your quilt) carry our energy with them. Having read your blog about the meaning behind this quilt, I now understand my tears. Your quilt is beautiful, and I will cherish it always. Thank you again.
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