visits and birthdays

We have had a busy couple of weeks. Our house has been full of hustle and bustle with two lovely guests, my sister and her new roommate rachel. There were lots of dinners out, subway mishaps, midnight snacks and giggles at the grocery store.
Rachel left on Monday and my sister just left to head back home yesterday. They were here to accomplish a lot, and they both went home happy.
In between apt hunting, interviews and exploring, Pierrette also had a birthday!
I wanted to create something for her new home that would remind her of her old one. We had quite a few discussions about nashville or tennessee tattoos, I guess being in a new city suddenly inspires pride in your hometown. All of that discussion inspired this wall hanging that I made for her.
Here it is, pieced but without the borders...or the binding

I inherited a small bag of vintage fabrics through someone that was going through her mothers old fabrics and many of them ended up in this quilt.
I embroidered the center square and placed a heart where Nashville lies on the map, and added the three stars from the tennessee flag. I then quilted the whole piece free hand on the machine and bound it with a great japanese print I found at purl soho.
So here is the finished piece, sorry for the fuzzy photo but thanks to Rachel for taking one!