Crossroads Quilt Along

Hello fellow quilters! We hope that you are joining the most anticipated 2016 Crossroads Quilt Along with us to commemorate the crossroads in our lives.

We named the quilt, Crossroads, after the chain blocks that run through the quilt, tying everything together, and also for the symbolism behind each block. We're defining "crossroads" as points in our lives that have required us to pause, to make a decision, to choose a path, and to move forward. It can be an event, a person, a realization. From wherever you started, it's the paths we choose, not the final destination, that molds us into who we become.

So in 2016, we hope you will join this antique-inspired quilt along in benefiting March of Dimes. Their work helps families in your community during uncertain times. You can start supporting the cause today on our fundraising page and join us to ensure all babies have a fighting chance.

In the Crossroads quilt, each block symbolizes a life-changing "crossroad." Throughout the year, we'll be sharing more about these crossroads, but today we'll get the ball rolling with a glimpse of a few of our stories. Let's start with Kimberly...

"My dad was my rock and the glue that held our family together. When he passed away, it was the biggest crossroad that I have faced. I lost the man that I loved most dearly and a best friend. Without his support, Fat Quarter Shop would not be what it is today and I know that his spirit is always around us every day."

Joanna of Fig Tree Quilts, the designer of the Crossroads quilt and Strawberry Field Revisited, shares her history of "crossroads."

"When I think of crossroad moments in my life, so many different 'moments in time' come to mind that altered the course of my life in one direction or another, down one path or another. Many times it is decisions that I have made or risks that I was willing to take, but often is was all about decisions that were made by others around me that were the most important. My husband Eric and I often look back to our family histories and think about all the decisions that had to be made by others for us ever even to have met.

So I look back on the decision that my parents made to leave everything that they knew and loved in Poland, to pick up their small family and a few belongings and to leave in the night to avoid being detected in order to come and start a new life in the United States, as the most important "crossroads" of my life. I am pretty confident that I would never had what it takes to make such a decision. As a result of that one moment in time, my life was radically altered and the path was completely different one than it would ever have been otherwise. It might not be a transformative moment that I created myself, but it was certainly the one that created a path for the rest of my life."

We've asked some of our bloggers to share some of the crossroads in their lives. Visit their blogs to read their wonderful stories and share yours on the comment section of our blog.