Happy New Year and welcome to 2021!! I'm not really one for New Year's Resolutions, however I do find it valuable to look back on my year and take some time to reflect on what went well and what I accomplished. It's a practice for me because, I don't know about you all but I can tend to dwell on those things that didn't get accomplished, or the places where I fell short.
Although 2020 was a rubbish year in so many ways, I did manage to complete a lot of creative projects and make some progress in developing Blooming Poppies Designs. I won't go on with all of that but will share my most special and loved finish of the the year. The Journey Home Quilt that I designed, wrote a pattern for and created three of in 2020, was such a fun and satisfying project for me. Most special to me of course, is the one I made specifically for my daughter.
I fell hard for the Ruby Star Stellar line by Rashida Coleman Hale early in the year and just knew I had to create a version with it.
Although it didn't necessarily start out as a quilt for my girl, as it took shape... the sweet starry, oh so colorful and happy blocks dancing so beautifully together on my design wall.... it became clear to me that this quilt was destined to belong to my youngest daughter.
And so it was. The rest of the year, I (sometimes we) worked with purpose and love to complete each little step of the process-most of that being the hand quilting. I even put a little pillow top together with the HST off cuts from this quilt in order to give her a more manageable project to work on (that has yet to be finished- LOL)!
After many months, stitching away in our cozy living room in the evenings or weekend mornings, the hand quilting was finally finished and I had grown so fond of this sweet little quilt. The weeks that turned into months with this quilt on my lap became some of my most cherished anchor points for the year. Hand quilting kept me grounded and left me feeling a sense of purpose and meaning through most of 2020. I was learning, or re-learning a skill that I was developing such a fondness for and finally making the bed quilt for our youngest daughter (her sisters have both had theirs for many years). Doing this soothed my frayed nerves more and more with each lovely, imperfect little stitch and made me appreciate this craft and all that it has to offer both the maker and the recipient.
Finally moving on to binding felt like a huge accomplishment but also brought a tinge of anxiety as I didn't know what I would do with out this little quilt to stitch away on. As the news in the world became more dire and I was faced with the reality of not seeing family over the holidays, I felt compelled and inspired to lean into finishing this sweet gift that held so much meaning and love for my girl.... a strong pull to keep my own immediate family close and cared for.
So the only choice was to finish it up, and although it didn't exactly make it to the finish line by her October birthday, she was thrilled to receive it on a very unceremonial Tuesday night in November.
It still needs a label and I have yet to get really amazing photos of it, but it's finished and I have no words to convey how very special it is to me and to my daughter.
So as I look back on what was mostly a pretty awful 2020, one the few bright spots was this
Journey Home Quilt finish!
If you'd like to have a go at your own Journey Home Quilt, you can find the pattern in my Patterns Collection right here on this website, or just click
here!
