"You've Got Mail"

I wanted to create a quilt for our grandson (Patrick) which would become his personal heirloom! A couple of years ago I just happened to watch the video by Missouri Star Quilt Company which showed a quilt that is composed of envelope blocks called "You've Got Mail". The fabric chosen for this quilt was a line by Tim Holtz called Eclectic Elements. The dictionary defines eclectic as "selecting what seems best from various styles, doctrines, ideas, methods, etc. or composed of elements drawn from a variety of sources, styles, etc.". This immediately painted a picture of Patrick and it's what the fabrics represent! Since he is a member of the Generation Y, web savvy, and growing up with email correspondence, as well as a history buff, I felt like this quilt idea was a blend of the old and new. The backing fabric was decided when I stumbled across the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. His amazing interest in history and reinactments made this the perfect backing choice. So with the procurement of fabrics, the quilting process began with many artistic decisions to be made along the way. I used a varied neutral layer cake for the background rather than white and I added a cursive script inner border and cornerstones. The label was an embroidered envelope with the "To & From" names/addresses as well as an eagle stamp, postmark and cancelled stamp with his graduation date. Inside the label envelope was a letter from us with congratulatory remarks of his achievement at The George Washington University and also explaining the meaning of quilt worthy. He loved it! Thank you MSQC!!!