This quilt began out of my love for snowflake and star fabrics. I've always had "a thing" for snowflakes, going even so far as to label all of my Christmas presents with a snowflake sticker instead of my name for my family a few years. When I began quilting, I loved the hunt for snowflake and star fabrics, buying without a care for color, quality, or size of pattern.
At some point, I was introduced to Karol-Ann's Rose hexagon quilt (you can see it in her sidebar) and thought I'd do the same with my treasured fabrics. So it began by cutting a 3.5" x 4.5" rectangle from every star or snowflake fabric I owned. There are no repeats, to the best of my knowledge, in the entire quilt top. I even put out a plea on the HGTV boards, when they still existed, and received a lovely collection of fabrics from those ladies. I cut my own templates from yogurt lids. I learned about an adequate seams and how to cut larger rectangles. My blog posts date back to June of 2011.
The entire quilt top is hand pieced and hand quilted, including the borders. I tucked away the hexagons at the point we decided we would sell our house, and pulled them out occasionally, only to be overwhelmed as they became unwieldy.
Finally, I was spurred on by Vicki Welsh's UFO challenge to finally tackle this piece. It was my oldest UFO, and I knew I had plenty of fabrics to be getting on with. I intended to piece one "snowflake" a month until I could piece the entire top.
Then, in September of 2015, I suffered a miscarriage. In my confusion, grief, and loss-of-what-to-do-with-myself, I decided this quilt would become the baby quilt for the baby I lost. So my goal became to finish by her due date in early May of 2016.
Since then, I have diligently cut, pieced, quilted, finagled, and otherwise made this quilt happen. I survived the disaster of bleach on it and my son cutting a few holes in it. I pieced the back out of my favored teal and turquoise scraps. I hand quilted a different design in every group of hexagons. I used another beloved snowflake fabric in the binding.
I finished by my goal, and I am both sad and relieved that the quilt is done. I will enjoy snuggling on the couch with this quilt, and I'm proud to have persevered and given myself something useful out of my mourning.
from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.
At some point, I was introduced to Karol-Ann's Rose hexagon quilt (you can see it in her sidebar) and thought I'd do the same with my treasured fabrics. So it began by cutting a 3.5" x 4.5" rectangle from every star or snowflake fabric I owned. There are no repeats, to the best of my knowledge, in the entire quilt top. I even put out a plea on the HGTV boards, when they still existed, and received a lovely collection of fabrics from those ladies. I cut my own templates from yogurt lids. I learned about an adequate seams and how to cut larger rectangles. My blog posts date back to June of 2011.
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| I couldn't find a higher place to stand last night, in my haste, so the quilt appears wonky but is quite square. |
The entire quilt top is hand pieced and hand quilted, including the borders. I tucked away the hexagons at the point we decided we would sell our house, and pulled them out occasionally, only to be overwhelmed as they became unwieldy.
Finally, I was spurred on by Vicki Welsh's UFO challenge to finally tackle this piece. It was my oldest UFO, and I knew I had plenty of fabrics to be getting on with. I intended to piece one "snowflake" a month until I could piece the entire top.
Then, in September of 2015, I suffered a miscarriage. In my confusion, grief, and loss-of-what-to-do-with-myself, I decided this quilt would become the baby quilt for the baby I lost. So my goal became to finish by her due date in early May of 2016.
Since then, I have diligently cut, pieced, quilted, finagled, and otherwise made this quilt happen. I survived the disaster of bleach on it and my son cutting a few holes in it. I pieced the back out of my favored teal and turquoise scraps. I hand quilted a different design in every group of hexagons. I used another beloved snowflake fabric in the binding.
from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.
3 comments:
What a beautiful and special quilt! It's brand new but already full of memories.
It's a lovely quilt! Thanks so much for sharing your story. I'm so sorry for your loss, but pleased that you found a way to work through a portion of the grieving process.
Beautiful finish! Both visually and the story that goes with it.
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