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As a mom of twin 8-year old boys, owning and operating a retail business with people counting on me, and balancing a life-partner with keeping up with family and friends can be challenging... to say the least. I'm sure you have similar life challenges. I believe it's imperative to carve out time in the day to create something tangible. That is why I devote time to quilting and hand embroidery.
I love quilting and handwork because it allows me to work with my hands and it will enable me to accomplish something that is tangible. It feels good to be able to gift a handmade item with love, or hear people that come to the house say, “Wow, where did you get this?” I reply, “I made it”, or “I created the design, and this is how I came up with the pattern design.”
Not only is creating the pattern or using a design necessary when it comes to quilting, but it’s also important how color and texture are together. One of my favorite memories of working with my Grandma at the Norton House was that she allowed me to create colorful Fat Quarter collections. I love working with color. I enjoy placing different color combos together, to then either create new Fat Quarter collections or to create a more significant quilt, or to help people choose which colorway to use in the quilt, table runner, or handwork embroidery.
I challenged myself to use this panel, with this Bali fabric.
At first, I thought I would make a long table runner, but then something shifted, and I knew a quilt would be better. I envisioned a friend gifting it to another friend who perhaps needs a little encouragement or gifting it to someone who is going through a rough time in life. I envision the person snuggled on the couch with this quilt because one look at the quotes might bring comfort and inspiration.
(Panel with Quotes click for more information)
In the photo below you'll notice the massive pillars next to the center row. After placing the butterflies (more on the how I created the butterflies in a moment) around the grey Bali fabric, I quickly realized they were too large. So, using my Olf rotary cutter and ruler, with a plastic cutting mat. I rolled down the center and re-sewed the pillar into 5 inches - not 9 inches as the first image appears.
Then I re-added the butterflies as shown.
Creating the butterflies: my Grandma bought a studio die-cut machine for the shop - LOVE IT! One of the die-cuts she purchased was butterflies, but there are others such as leaves, cats, dogs, gingerbread people, Sunbonnet Sue, and I recently bought a bear. With the die-cut butterflies, before I used the die-cut machine, I added steam-a-seam to the back of the fabric. Then I ran it through the die-cut machine. I placed the butterflies where I wanted them on the quilt, peeled off the steam-a-seam paper and then use a hot iron to fuse them into place. How cool right?
I wanted to place the butterflies around the quilt onto the borders and grey pillars. I felt the butterflies would be a perfect fit for the quilt because the butterfly’s metamorphosis is an attribute of faith. Butterflies unquestioningly embrace the changes in their environment and their bodies, which is how I view life. Their transformation takes about a month. They can not change overnight. We can’t either. Looking forward to 2018, this quit represents love, time, change, grace, growth, elegance, surrender, transition, expression, celebration, and vulnerability - which are my goals for the coming year.
