Sew Infatuated!: The Anniversary Quilt

Well one of the things I have wanted to write about for so long now is my anniversary gift for my husband. I decided last year to give him my interpretation of the "traditional" wedding anniversary gift each year. Last year (our first anniversary), paper was the traditional gift. So I gave him a book about world history. I know it doesn't sound exciting but he had been saying that he would like to read up on some world history and that while he studied for his boards, he needed to read a book to give his mind a break from Cardiology. He did not read the book while he studied for his boards, nor has he read it since. But it is the thought that counts, right?
Anyway, the second anniversary traditional gift is cotton! So you know he was getting a quilt. I decided that I was going to do a two-sided quilt. The front.... Pittsburgh Steelers! The back.... New York Yankees! So I decided on a pattern, bought a bunch of fabric, made A LOT of "Steeler" blocks, and when I laid it out on the floor I HATED it! It was so awful. I tried taking out the most offensive blocks to see if that made it any better. It really didn't. So I started over from scratch. I picked a new pattern, bought a lot more fabric, made a lot more "Steeler" blocks, and when I laid it out on the floor suddenly the 17 black and gold pinwheel blocks didn't match the 18 Steeler fabric blocks anymore! How can that be? They matched perfectly in the store. But now they don't, so.... Of course, I went to another quilt shop and bought a lot more fabric to remake the 17 pinwheel blocks. I also bought some black/white/yellow daisy fabric to go with the other pinwheel blocks so they wouldn't be wasted.
So again I washed and pressed and cut and sewed a heap of black, gold, and white fabrics. I made 17 new pinwheel blocks and when I laid them out on the floor they did not match the Steeler blocks either! What?!! At this point, I am cussing and about to start a Steeler fabric bonfire. Finally, I take all of the blocks outside and put the old blocks and the new blocks next to that damned Steeler fabric and though neither of them matched perfectly, the old blocks looked the best. Yes, that's right, I made 17 new pinwheel blocks for nothing. And to top it all off, the new black and gold pinwheel blocks do NOT match the black/white/yellow daisy fabric that I bought. Of course they don't.

Now the Yankee side was originally the one that was causing me the most stress because apparently the MLB has stopped allowing cotton fabric to be printed with their logos. So in order to get some, you have to go on EBay where the lucky persons that still have some can sell it to some desperate quilter for $100/yard!! So I was afraid to even touch that fabric until I knew the Steeler side was going to work. Oddly enough, the Yankee side turned out to be my absolute favorite. It looked gorgeous! I had to work on this quilt a little bit here and there for almost a year. Then after each little bit of work I would hide it all away so my hubby wouldn't see. I sent it off to be quilted by my Aunt, who did a beautiful job as usual. I had it bound and labeled and ready to go with two months to spare! It took everything in me to wait until July 24th to give it to him. So without further ado....