07.19.10 - a more heartfelt post than anticipated

Originally, the title of this post was "another quilt!" but after writing it, I decided it needed to be changed. This post is more personal that I originally thought it would be, but I think you will enjoy reading it all the same :) and don't worry, I'll still include my crafty creations from the past week!

Apparently, quilts are my thing these days! I made an impromptu USA themed quilt this week for a very special friend who was in town. Dillon is one of Joel's best friends from Tech. After graduating in December 2008, he joined the Army. He didn't go in as an officer, but rather enlisted. His reasons for entering the Armed Services are very unique. He wasn't interested in simply becoming a soldier (though he definitely loves our country and is proud to fight for it); he was more interested in investing in people's lives. More importantly, he wanted to work side by side with unsaved young men and have the opportunity to lead them to Christ - and he has, on several occasions. Dillon is one of the most highly respected men I know. As Joel puts it, he is in the ranks of Matt Chandler and Francis Chan, a group of men who truly know God's calling in their lives and are willing to sacrifice everything to follow Him. Dillon is the type of guy who just seems to get it. You have to know him to truly understand what I mean. He is simply an incredible human being.

Dillon became an Army Ranger and served in Afghanistan last year. He returned to the States in December and was scheduled to ship out again in June. The Rangers are on a sort of rotation. From what I understand, there are three groups of Army Rangers who rotate "stations" throughout the year. One station is training in Georgia; another is deployment; and the last is debriefing and leave. They cycle through each station in this order and will complete all three in one year. For example, Dillon deployed last June, returned in December, debriefed and had leave until the spring, reported back to Georgia for pre-deployment training a few months ago, and was set to deploy again in June. However, he was injured during training. While doing some sort of airborne drills, Dillon was in an accident. He jumped out of the plane around 1000 feet, had time to deploy the parachute and check the gauges, and figures he was around 600 feet up when another Ranger was carried into his chute by the wind (which was at 24 knots, about twice the max speed recommended for jumping, according to Dillon). His parachute was deflated and he free-fell into a tree. Miraculously, he is fine! And praise God for that :) He broke both bones in his lower leg and has had surgery to fix it. He didn't get deployed in June, for obvious reasons, and was therefore able to make a visit down to Lubbock for a week!

And this is where my post was originally planned to start.. I made Dillon a quilt while he was here. I was in the fabric store when the 4th of July fabric caught my eye. It was marked down 50% from an original $5.99 a yard! Obviously, I HAD to have it. I decided on the spot to make a quilt for my favorite Army Ranger. I thought I could finish it before he had to leave, but I realized the actual quilting part would take entirely too long. I decided that instead of quilting, I would simply sew up the border and then tie knots of yarn on each corner. Refer to the last picture for further explanation. I got the idea from blankets my friend Bailey's grandma (or some other relative) used to make for the kids in her family. It definitely isn't my best work, but I'm still proud of it, considering the time frame I had to work under!

Here are a few pics:

 

I'm currently working on a baby quilt.. More to come on that later!