It has been no secret that I have been struggling with my emotions in the recent years. It makes sense, I have had a lot of traumatic events happen. It's been a roller coaster. It's been difficult and I've really struggled. As I started to put the pieces of my life and my emotions back in check I stumbled on a hobby that I have dabbled in over the years and in the process have been working on a project that truly has e delighted. A memory quilt!
In June I went on a gals weekend with my friend Linda. It was just what the doctor ordered. It was a weekend of laughter. It was a weekend of healing. It was a weekend of building our friendship stronger. When we past a fabric/quilt shop we knew we had to visit! We both have dabbled with quilting in our lives. While there we saw some fabric that actually was designed with the New River Gorge Bridge. We decided to buy the fabric and the complimentary fabrics and to each make a block to commemorate our trip. We talked about how we could buy fabric and make a block for each girls weekend/vacation we go on. It was a great idea and I was hooked!
I came home with my fabric and I made the quilt block for our girls weekend. I had enough fabric left over that I made a second block for the "New River Gorge". I had always wanted to create a memory quilt and I now had my first block completed...almost. I embroidered the dates for when Jason and I visited NRG and voila the first block was complete.
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| The block that started it all |
I loved the process and couldn't wait to work on the next block! I went out and perused the fabric at a local fabric store and bought the fabric for the next block. I had so much fun that it took no time at all for that block to be finished. I bought the fabric for the next block. And in that way I have made my way through almost all the blocks I need for my memory quilt!
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| Of course our animals deserve their own blocks! |
I have been creating this quilt as I go. Each block is a unique pattern (ok, I do duplicate some patterns here and there). Each block is unique in fabrics, although I do try to include at least one fabric that was used elsewhere in the quilt into each block. Each block depicts something special, or an event, or a thought from the first 10 years of the relationship of Jason and I (yup, we are at the 10 year mark).
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| When we were first dating we spent a lot of time at a cafe talking....the cafe had a purple couch. |
As I have been creating the blocks I have formed my idea of how this quilt is going to work. I always knew that each block would be totally unique and individualistic. For a bit I pondered including some of the negative events.....my dad's death, the passing of mom, the car accident that took Jason's daughter...those truly heart breaking events. I thought about making blocks to depict the loss of my job, my health scare, mom's stroke, or Jason's run in with an axe. But I knew that while they were part of what I am and what these last 10 years together have been...I didn't want to put the sad memories into this quilt.
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| Of course there is a block for each of us that has our names and birthdays |
But how can I just ignore those things. They are part of us. They are part of our years. That is when I decided to add in half blocks randomly throughout the quilt. These half blocks are not pieced quilt blocks, they are corresponding fabrics (and leftover fabric) from the pieced blocks. You see, if I left all the blocks perfect 12 inch squares the quilt would be totally linear popping from one good memory to another. But life is not linear. So I am placing those half blocks of fabric randomly to acknowledge that life is not linear and that there are roadblocks. There are sad events. There is heartache. I am not putting in a specific number of half blocks. Well, I am in that I have a certain number that need to be there to create the quilt. But I have refused to look at a half block and think, "that represents my dad.....or mom...or jasons daughter." The memories and love for those people will always be with us and we don't need a quilt block to remember.
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| A block to indicate our apartment that we first lived in (with address) |
In the dead center of the quilt I have always planned to have a large block (my plan was 24x24 but now that I am working on it, I think I'm going to have to adjust that ....which means the other blocks will need to be adjusted...but that's ok because I have some ideas on how to adjust). This super large block will be a block created with the double wedding ring pattern. My plan is 4 rings of the double wedding ring. This is the only quilt block in the quilt that will not have unique fabrics. All of the pieces of the double wedding ring will be created with random pieces from all of the other blocks. All of the events depicted in the quilt combine in fabric to create our union in the double wedding ring.
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| We have hiked a lot of trails off of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park |
I have completed all of my blocks and all of the half blocks. (I am doing a quilt as you go approach.....if you are interested in quilting and have wondered when you look at my blocks.) I am currently piecing the double wedding ring segment. As I said earlier the pattern was larger than I thought so I will most likely have to adjust some things on the quilt....but I have a plan in my head of how to make a larger center block work!
Working on the quilt has been good for me in so many ways. It has allowed me to be creative (which is something I truly enjoy). It has allowed me to revisit the past and look at the good that has happened in life versus dwelling on the negative. It has also given me a project that fills my time. It has been a blast! As I near the end I wonder what will come next........
