A good, old-fashioned quilting bee!

My mom has this quilt that she must have made sometime around my birth, because I don't ever remember a time that we didn't have it. It's very big, and it's got kitchy flowers all over it. We took it on every picnic and outing. Right now it lives in the back of my mom's car so that it's always there when you unexpectedly want it. I decided that I really needed my own blanket like this. Surely the only reason I don't spend more time in the park is because I'm lacking the blanket, right? So when Erin suggested we go to Rochester for the Independence Day weekend, I thought I would try to convince everyone that it would be really fun to help me tie my own, all outing quilt. It was surprisingly easy to do (the convincing, not the making which turned out to be much more intricate than expected).Mom told me she made her blanket out of sheets which she thought aided in it's long life, so I ordered a red gingham sheet set from JC Penny, and had it sent to Mom. I was planning to just do gingham on the top, and plain red on the bottom; very simple. When I got home I bought the red material with Mom, and she also had bought some really cute cherry material for the binding. Well, in our fervor to get started (actually, it was Sunday night before we really got started), Mom and I both cut the red fabric to match the sheet size, and between the two of us, we managed somehow to cut it to neither the right length or width. Thus, we ended up making (read Mom made) the patchwork top, cutting up the red fabric, the fitted gingham sheet, and the cherries, and we used the flat gingham sheet as the bottom.As you can see, it turned out really cute thanks to Mom's expertise and speedy serging, Erin's cutting, and my impressive ironing skills. Emily, Erin, and Lily helped me tie the quilt with green ties using the "pioneer knots" that Charlene Campbell taught us (she also let us use her quilting frame for which I'm very grateful), and it only took us a few hours. We were a little disappointed, in fact, over how quickly we finished. After The Hill Cumorah Pageant finishes (my mom works in the costume shop), my mother will finish it off for me with the cherry binding, and I can begin attracting attention in the parks of NY with my beautiful blanket.