Every Memorial weekend, we take a camping trip with my family. Though this year wasn't my son's first camping trip (we took him last year at only 8 weeks old), this year seemed like it was the real deal. I was putting the pressure on myself to make it something special!
Rewind to a few weeks before when I started following @suzyquilts on instagram. I'd never had a desire to quilt before, but THESE....they were AMAZING! Now the pressure was really on! I started daydreaming about a McQuinn family quilt; one we would take to all of our family trips and special occasions. I started imagining some undetermined number of McQuinn children cuddled up under the "adventure quilt" as we cram in an RV and roadtrip out west. I imagined Maslow (our 16 month-old son) and our future children as preteens fighting over a spot on the tattered and worn quilt watching the Fourth of July fireworks with their little friends. At that very moment, I decided I NEEDED to learn how to quilt. And I NEEDED for it to be done for our Memorial weekend camping trip. This was Tuesday--we were leaving for the trip on Friday.
I ventured down to the local quilt shop, Crimson Tate, and told them about my idea. I know they thought I was crazy, but they were so supportive and guided me through choosing my fabrics and the quantities I needed. They were so fantastic and I left on cloud 9 and ready to take on my biggest craft challenge yet!
By Friday afternoon when my husband got home from work I had the front of the quilt done and though it wasn't completely finished, it could at least make the trip with us. Over the next few months, I'd spend a little time here and there working to get it finished and as we took a few small summer weekend trips we'd take it along. On the Fourth of July, Maslow, my husband, and I sat on the adventure quilt and watched the fireworks over downtown Indianapolis and Maslow wiped his sticky mac 'n' cheese fingers on it--THIS was exactly what I had imagined.
Now, two months later, the quilt is finally finished and I've been adding patches for all the adventures we take as a family. It is SO FAR from perfection, yet it is somehow PERFECT. It is crooked. The seams don't align. The backing is too small. It is definitely not as large as I had in mind. It STILL has mac 'n' cheese on it. But, it is everything I hoped for and I can't wait to take the McQuinn Family Adventure Quilt on many many more adventures!
