The quilts we make are outward expressions of our creative selves. Rarely do I make a quilt "by the pattern", if I use a pattern at all. Just like our life experiences, our location, and the time period in which we live define us; those same contributing factors define our quilts. This quilt, "All Are Precious...", is a perfect example of what I am talking about. The pattern is an old one from McCall's Quilting magazine, mid 1990's. It sparked my interest and I set it aside as a "someday" quilt to create. Finding the Cherrywood setting fabrics at a major quilt show years later determined the quilt's palette; a workshop taken at that same show by Sue Nickels became the springboard for the border. I love the way all of these elements combined to become the whole. This quilt languished in the stash closet for years before the quilting was completed, more a reflection of my procrastinating self than my creative one! At long last it now proudly hangs in our bedroom hallway.
"WTLBFMFL" (Words To Live By From My Fabric Library) hangs in our guest room. Displaying a collection of personal quotations, penned (and quilted!) by hand, it was completed in 1997. It documents not only the fabrics that I had amassed at that time but also my interest in adding a hand applique border to rein it all in. This pattern appeared in the October 1993 publication of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine; the applique additions are my own. Our quilts are like snowflakes or fingerprints... no two are alike, once we become part of its making it becomes our own creative manifestation. We define the quilt, then, it defines us.
It's why we quilt!
Life is Good!
