Hello quilters,
I’ve been missing in the blog-iverse lately–just too many competing deadlines. But today’s prompt for the IGQuiltFest managed by Amy Ellis is the motivation I’ve been needing to get back to blogging.
If you aren’t participating in #IGQuiltFest on Instagram, take a second to go check it out–it’s a fun way to learn all about quilters around the world.
Today, we’re all sharing “Solid Love”. If you had asked me three years ago about solids, I would have had nothing to contribute. I was a print girl who subscribed to the “why use one fabric when you can use 200?” line of thinking.
I challenged myself to design something with solids so I could make a quilt for each of my daughters that they would actually want to display in their homes.
Fast forward to today and I’m comfortable working with solids & actually have several all-solids quilts that I love.
This was Transmogrify, a QuiltCon entry in the 2016 APQ Challenge category.
In 2017, as I was thinking about making a quilt that I could enter into quilt show competitions, I kept bumping into the notion that I needed to finally make a memory quilt in honor of my dad. He passed away in 2009 and while I made some family members quilts from his shirts, I just hadn’t been able to wrap my head around making myself a quilt from them. But I wanted to somehow honor his memory.
Reverb is the end result.
I recently received notice that this quilt will hang in the AQS Show in Paducah in April.
Here’s part of what I wrote about this quilt in the submission process:
“The last year has been a time of stress and several times when I’m at my limit, I’ll hear a familiar refrain from a song my Dad used to sing. (If you’re wondering, the song is Merle Haggard’s If We Make it Through December.)
In blues that remind me of his daily wardrobe and the color of his eyes, Reverb expresses how he remains my guiding star
His gentle spirit and focus on spirituality over materialism were the links in a chain that wove together, making him a shining star in my universe. As years go by, memories fade, but when I need him, he echoes and ripples through my days.”
The incredible Sarabeth Rebe perfectly captured my intent with this quilt with her machine quilting. I grew up at Lake of the Ozarks and the quilting depicts the rocky shores along the lake and the rippling waters.
If you’re headed to Paducah, I’d love it if you take a picture of this quilt and post it on social media. Tag me so I can see it, too! I’m @sjmax105 on Instagram or Designs By Sarah J Maxwell on Facebook.
Here’s to you, Pops!
