I so excited to share with you a heart felt quilt made in memory of my dear mother in law, GLadys. I had intended to remake Hoot’n in the Barn into a Valentine’s quilt and rename it ‘Lov’n in the Barn’ and began working on it off and on the beginning of December.

As December got under way, we learned my mother in law Gladys, was in the hospital. But of course, with Covid, no one can see her except one person the entire time which was my sister in law (Nancy) who is the primary caregiver. And my husband Pat and I live 3-1/2 hours away. (sad face)

After about 5 days in the hospital, Gladys came home…only to return back to the hospital. After a more few days in the hospital she was sent home on hospice care. Pat and I headed to Seattle on December 16th knowing it was only a matter of time and Nancy could no physically care for Gladys by herself.

This is the view from the kitchen window. My in-laws purchase their ‘new’ home in the late 1940’s. A gorgeous view of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains!

So, when i was home and my husband was in Seattle, i tried to do some work when my brain would allow…but as i got ‘Lov’n in the Barn’ on my longarm, all i could think was… To GLadys With Love.

I’ll be sharing more of this quilt when i get the binding finished. Plus i have already added the instructions to include the changes made to the original pattern, like Wool Hearts and a Scalloped Border.

Here it is all pieced before i added the wool hearts…and that blob of fabric at my machine in the background is the pieced backing in the works. And you can always find some really cute Valentine motifs to fussy cut into the alternate block if you don’t want wool hearts…. I decided to stitch the hearts after the top was pieced so it did not distort the block or accelerate the frayed edges!

And, don’t shy away just because of the custom quilting either. There are so many really nice all over quilting patterns that would be lovely. I would however, have it quilted first, and then add the wool hearts if you choose to go that way. Or at least ask your longarmer what they think.

I stitched inside the wool heart but it might be cute to add some small white buttons to tack it down too! There are so many ideas!

What a change… Right?

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Don’t forget to click over to the shop and check out the digital ‘Hoot’n in the Barn’ pattern…scroll to the end to see the updated instructions for ‘To GLadys With Love’