Finally! I have been late to the party for the last two Blogger's Quilt Festivals, so I'm tickled pink that I made it for this one. It has been so much fun blog-hopping to see everyone's quilts. My, my, my. So many talented peeps out there! Which, of course, I knew, but it's so fun to see all of the color, the diverse set of skills and designs. Eye candy on steroids, I tell you! Before it's all said and done, I will have quite a quilt hangover. In such a good, good way.
So. This quilt. Mmmmmmm....still one of my faves.
Quiltie Fest Bloggers, meet Urban Garden. You may have seen this one before, but I don't know that I've shared the story. If I have (memory schmemory), perhaps you'll indulge me one more time.
I've been quilting for about 10 or 15 years, I suppose. My very first quilt was created with my mom's tutelage and Alex Anderson's Learn to Quilt book (I'm not sure the title was Learn to Quilt, but it was a very basic learn-to-quilt book. I made every quilt in it, as I dipped my toes into the quilting pool.)
Anyhoooo....
I quilted with my mom and a group of friends for a number of years. Once a month we'd meet at my mom's for snacks and drinks and quilting. (And, depending on the mood, there may have been more wine drinking than quilting. I know you know what I mean.) In between those meetings I'd quilt with my mom, or we'd shop for fabric together, or I'd read pages from her own quilt book manuscript. She had a gazillion quilts designed. Some more complete and whipped up in EQ5 on her laptop. Others sketched in her signature black Flair pen on a cocktail napkin or the back of a deposit slip. It seemed her mind was always designing a quilt.
I moved away from quilting for a few years to do some cutting and pasting. I played with vintage papers and collage, little bits of ephemera, and had a whole lot of fun.
Then, as many of you know, I lost my sweet mama to a very unexpected and brutally short battle with ovarian cancer. Turned my world upside down. As I lovingly cleaned out her sewing room, my hands caressing her fabric stash, organizing spools of thread, sitting on the floor with her files (oh, and I use that term verrrry loosely...more like manila file folders crammed full of aforementioned cocktail napkins, grocery lists, and other sundry bits of paper with quilt designs sketched upon them) and being blown away by all of the quilt designs, well, you can imagine I felt the pull back to quilts. Back to my love of brilliant color and fabric. I finally found my way back to quilting.
In the midst of all this mess, I met Jennifer. We were friends from the start. And, because she is who she is, she put a box of her beautiful fabrics in the mail to me.
And this was my first quilt. A sort of tribute to Mom. The design is hers. The fabric is Jennifer's. All stitched up in a whole bunch of quiltie love.
So happy to be back.
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