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"I was told you were the person to send this to" was a kosmail message that began a new adventure in quilting for me. More beyond the tangled bobbin.
This kosmail message was a request for a Community Quilt for one of our beloved members, Ann aka winglion. Ann & her sister Sara R are the quilting angels who quilt Community Quilts for the DK Community who need comfort, encouragement, and love. This is from their profile page
Community Quilts are a way of sharing care, compassion and support for community members who are facing illness or other hardships.
My immediate thoughts were: Yikes, do I have the skill to create a Community Quilt? Would Ann accept a quilt? Community Quilts is an income generating method for the Reed Sisters. I wouldn't want to infringe on their ability to make a living. Is this a secret? Are they aware of this idea?
I was willing to lead this project. I would write a diary, ask kossasks for messages, need a link to Sara/Ann's paypal account, write the messages on the muslin, and piece the quilt. The Reed Sisters would have to know about this effort to supply the paypal account link. I did not want to be in charge of any $ or donations; which is why the $ would go directly to the Reed Sisters.
I spoke with Sara. She was surprised, and I think a bit taken aback. Sara offered to write the diary for Ann's quilt; Community Quilt for my sister, Ann. Kossacks responded with lovely sentiments for Ann. Sara was able to provide the muslin for the messages, and brief outline of her quilting process.
I began to plan, plot design, and look for any inspiration for the quilt. I was told that Ann liked Autumn colors and leaves. She also liked the color teal.
Part of the Community Quilt project was to include some fabric from a previous quilt. Sara sent some to me. A beautiful cheery daisy fabric. I loved it; how was I going to incorporate this summery fabric in an Autumn quilt? I gave Sara R bear fabric that I was using for the quilt's back. She would use the bear fabric for a future Community Quilt.
Perhaps group the daisy fabric with some teal fabric? Would it cause the quilt to look goofy and too chaotic?
I bought archival pens to write the messages. I wrote the messages on the small square pieces of fabric. The longer the message the harder it is to fit within the square. Yikes, it wasn't easy. I was afraid that my penmanship wouldn't look nice. I tend to have large writing and had to write very small.
I saw several images that helped me create a color palate for the quilt. Did I mention that I never had sewn a quilt with Autumn colors before?
I saw & studied many types of quilts. I decided to use a similar type of design as the other Community Quilts. I decided that it would be a medallion quilt. I had never done one before, and saw a blog that had tutorials on how to create one.
I had a general idea of what the quilt would look like. Now I would have to begin. Except one major factor. My mother had a horrific accident and was hospitalized. August, September, October, and November were horrible months. Mom was in the hospital for approx 3-5 days for each of those months. Time was getting away from me and my anxiety for mom's health was creating a horrible situation. I tried to keep it quiet on DKos on how worried I was about mom, and the quilt. I was very worried; I wouldn't be able to begin & finish the quilt.
Thankfully mom got better, and I was able to really get working on the quilt.
Did I mention that I had to incorporate Summer type fabric within a Autumn themed quilt? I was racking my brain for a solution to this challenge. Bingo, I saw a cool quilt using French Braid design. I decided to do a Flying Geese Quilt Block for the inner border, and the French Braid Block for an outer border. This would help to use different colors within the quilt, especially the daisy fabric.
Flying geese blocks made and center of the medallion.
Now onto the medallion border. Trying to decide on what color best suites the center.
I decided to use the brown with patterned fabric. Assembled the messages.
Trying to decide on more fabric borders.
Added the flying geese blocks using the black fabric not the dark green.
Assembled more messages.
I added a couple of cat drawings on spare muslin squares. I adapted cat embroidery designs from Bird Brain Designs to represent the Reed Sisters five cats. I also added patterned fabric to sides. This was to finish the message border. I didn't have any more messages and had to finish the border. It's a way of cheating to make it look finished; shush don't tell anyone.
Added thin black border and French Braid. Remember that challenge daisy fabric. It's within the braid. The French Braid allowed me to add a ton of different fabrics. I love scrappy looking quilts.
French Braid within the outer black fabric.
Finished Quilt Top
Now that I had finished the Quilt Top; it's off to the Long Arm Quilter. I wasn't about to quilt it myself. Especially such a large quilt. It's 74" x 74". She quilted leaves and the same type of flower as the medallion center's fabric. The Long Arm Quilter lives in my area, and is very nice. Her name is Kathy August.
Quilt Details
These two photos were taken by navajo
Completed Quilt
Have you seen the daisy fabric? I also included bears, leaves, pinecones, and other cute fabric. The quilting is wonderful. I am quite pleased with this challenging & rewarding quilt.
Several things I have learned from this experience. 1) trust your abilities and instincts 2) to expand your color palate; my challenge was Autumn colors 3) to sew a much larger quilt 4) perfect my flying geese block 5) to make a French Braid block especially for this quilt 5) to incorporate a challenge fabric.
All my efforts mean nothing without your wonderful loving messages. Thank you for the beautiful sentiments. It's been a honor & privilege to create a Community Quilt for our dear Ann aka winglion. It arrived at Catnip Manor this Saturday, and I spoke with Ann. She was pleased with it. Even her cats wanted to inspect and give their seal of approval. My goal was to have it arrive before Christmas. Thankfully, I was able to achieve that goal. Again thank you for your trust in my abilities to create Ann's Community Quilt. It was a labor of love.
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2013 VA Hospital, Palo Alto, CA~ We delivered quilts. Mom and I were lucky to meet Sara R, winglion & linkage. h/t linkage for this photo. I stole/borrowed it. ;)
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We Need Writers for the DK Quilt Guild Diaries.
After doing quite well with scheduling for awhile, there are now lots of open dates. Would you like to write a future DK Quilt Guild diary? Please join in! Please volunteer within the comments or you can send me a kosmail. Thanks
DKQG Diary Schedule
12/28 -- winifred3
2015
01/04 -- Pam from Calif
01/11 -- louise the dog
01/18 -- OPEN
01/25 -- winifred3