Blogger Quilt Festival - Bed Quilts - Dad's Crown Royal Quilt

Initially when I asked my dad and brothers to save the Crown Royal bags from the bottles, I figured in 10+ years I would make a quilt. They thought a quilt out of the bags would be neat, so they enlisted the help of hunting friends who run a bar and they saved the bags too. I originally planned to make a quilt for my brother Jim. I finished his in 2011. Then my dad and other brother Ed decided they wanted them too. I knew it would take a while to get more bags, so I started a quilt for Ed. The blocks are done on his and the sashing is a very slow work in progress. Dad announced last May he was getting married to Ann and I knew I had to act fast. I knew his had to be different than the boys quilts. One night I suddenly remembered a couple pieces of gold fabric with purple hourses I had put in a box for a massive sewing room garage sale. I went digging and found the horse batik. Since Dad and Ann are both horse lovers, I figured it was perfect. I took it to my favorite local shop, Fabric City and found a couple purple batiks to go with it. I decided to use the 5 Yard quilt pattern, which was easy and fun to make; however, I had to increase the number of blocks because he said he wanted a queen size quilt. I spent most of July making the blocks and quilted it at the beginning of August. I entered it in the county fair in August. My Dad and Ann didn't go to see the quilts, so they didn't see it until after their September wedding. I had an offer to buy it, but because it was so special I told him it would cost $2,000. I started to freak out when I thought he might actually come up with the money. I love how the quilt turned out and it really is one of my absolute favorite quilts. I used a wool batting which makes it light weight. I quilted it with a purple King Tut and dark purple Bottomline. The colors are vibrant and warm and go so well with the purple and gold of the Crown Royal bags. My dad loves the quilt and it only came off the bed once, for a quilt trunk show I did. He brought it up and took it home the same day. He won't part with it!