Showing posts with label word quilt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label word quilt. Show all posts

Monday, August 27, 2018

Quilt #112: Lots of Love Wedding Quilt


They say good things come to those who wait. That's true not only for those who are on my quilt list, but also for so many of us wanting to find someone with whom to share our life. 

True story: Niels and I got married when I was 35. When we bought Niels' wedding band, we asked the jeweler to inscribe it with "worth the wait." At the time, I was a bit self-conscious about my weight because my new head meds had caused me to gain 50 pounds in pretty short period of time and I was struggling with the fact that I would be at my all time high weight for my wedding, with pictures that would be around forever. Can you see where this is going? Two days before our wedding, I picked up the ring and read the writing, "worth the weight." That was my only true bridezilla moment of wedding planning! The owner of the store was mortified and overnighted a new ring to us. All is well. 

My friend Jamie also waited longer than average to meet her Mr. Right. Their story is complicated and beautiful and theirs to tell. Jamie and I have been friends for nearly 20 years and was one of my first friendsd when I moved to Michigan in 1999. We worked together at not one, but two companies. When I brought my Shih Tzu Bailey home from Minneapolis, Jamie was there with a camera at the airport to take pictures and welcome us home. After my brain injury, Jamie remained a friend and loved me despite the changes to my personality. She definitely deserved a place on my quilt list!


As I thought about what kind of quilt to make Jamie (and Toben) for their wedding quilt, the thing that kept coming to mind is love. That sounds clique, I realize, for a wedding quilt, but the love I think of when I think of Jamie goes beyond the gooey wedding love. Jamie knows how to love when it's hard--when it's a friend whose life is changed by brain injury, when it's watching her brother fight and then fade away from cancer, when it's engaging with the kids of her friends and family even when she longs to have children of  her own, when it's speaking up for those on the margins. Jamie embodies love. 


For the third time, I used the wonky alphabet by Kelby Sews for my letters. I used her paper pieced alphabet on Papa Steve's It Is Well quilt.


And I used her love letters on my sister Liz's wedding quilt. (I modified the "E").


I don't usually tell someone I am making a quilt for them, because I rarely hit my deadlines, and because it's really fun for me to see if someone figures it out from progress posts on Instagram. But I did tell Jamie I would make her a wedding quilt and asked her what colors she would like me to use. She said she would want the quilt for their bed and that they were using beach colors. 


I started making blocks in between other projects a few months before they got married. This spring we went on a cruise and I was reminded of the beauty of the ocean. It also gave me the sew-jo I needed to finish Jamie's quilt!


I made the quilt top my April One Monthly Goal for Elm Street Quilts monthly challenge. I finished the top on their 1st anniversary. I put two surprises into the quilt that I didn't want to reveal before Jamie and Toben saw the quilt in person, so I had to be a little sneaky with my OMG update post. 


The first surprise is that one of the LOVE blocks was made in Michigan State colors in honor of her brother Tony.


Tony passed away a few months after their wedding after a brave battle with cancer. Jamie's first year of marriage has been bittersweet as her joy is mingled with grief. Tony's memory is near to Jamie's heart so I knew he needed to be a part of her quilt, too.

Tony at Jamie's wedding, with Jamie's husband Toben to the right. Photo Credit: Jamie Heim
The other surprise was a block made of rainbow prints. This block has  significance to both Jamie and Toben and also needed a place on their quilt. 


Label. 


Cheers to you, Jamie & Toben. Here's wishing you many years of joy and lots of love!
Credit: Northern Exposure Photography
To see more pictures of this quilt, check the hashtag #lotsofloveweddingquilton Instagram. To see what I'm currently working on, please follow me at deJongDreamHouse.


My Quilt Infatuation FeatureFinished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
Posted by Jen @ de Jong Dream House at 11:06 AM 20 comments
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Sunday, August 26, 2018

One Monthly Goal :: August 2018 Update



A funny thing happened on my way to finishing this month's One Monthly Goal. My goal was to finish my Prince Edward Island Modern Quilt Guild mystery quilt. I started lots of social quilting projects last year and this year I'm doing my best to finish them all. The hiccup I ran into with this quilt is that I didn't download the final instructions in time! So I started the month with all the clues completed, but no final assembly instructions.

From the PEI MQG Facebook group, I was able to see pictures of the final quilt.  There were a few options. I was working on the modern layout.

Source
I really like this quilter's layout.

Source
I knew from the start that I would be gifting this quilt to my friend Lorilee Craker.  Lorilee and I were part of a writers group in my pre-quilting, pre-brain injury days. One of her recent books is a wonderful memoir called Anne of Green Gables, my Daughter, and Me. I bought some Anne of Green Gables fabric on a whim about a year ago. I thought I'd make Lorilee a pillow or something small. But when I learned of the PEI mystery quilt, I knew I had to use my Anne fabric on a quilt for Lorilee. 


It seemed fitting to add a quote to the quilt given our love of words. There are so many great quilts in the Anne series, but I landed on this one: Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. With a quote like that, I also had to include Anne and Diana on the quilt.


I was able to deliver the quilt in person this weekend when we drove up to Michigan for the AQS quilt show. 


To see more pictures of this quilt, check the hashtag #lorileeaoggquilt on Instagram. To see what I'm currently working on, please follow me at deJongDreamHouse.

Previous OMGs:
August 2018 - Anne of Green Gables Quilt
July 2018 - Dutch Canuck Quilt
June 2018 - Daybed Pillow
June 2017 - no goal

Linked to:
Posted by Jen @ de Jong Dream House at 10:33 PM 1 comments
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Thursday, November 2, 2017

One Monthly Goal :: November 2017


This is my 11th month of setting a One Monthly Goal with Elm Street Quilts. I haven't hit 100%, but I've hit the majority of my goals. I know that I have made several of those goals especially because I shared with the world that I was going to finish it. That is especially the case with last month's goal, Stella's memory quilt.  I'm so glad to have had the accountability to get that quilt in the hands of her mama.

So now we're in the home stretch of 2017. I have a bunch of quilt along finishing up and I have three quilts for Las Vegas to finish quilting,  but my goal is to finish another comfort quilt. It's for a friend who was just diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer that has already spread to her lungs and liver. The outlook isn't good and she is feeling all the things you would expect of someone dealt such a blow.

On her better days, she cracks jokes about the type of cancer she has. Colon cancer is messy. It's stinky. And it's really cruel. This friend is not one for flowers and platitudes. The idea for her quilt came to me late one night and immediately got up and sketched it out.


The letters will be pieced using Lori Holt's awesome new book, Spelling Bee, which  I already know I will be using over and over. And if you don't mind me being a fan girl for a moment, this book is seriously cool. With the BEST directions and layout I've seen in a quilt book, it has patterns for capital and lowercase letters in two sizes, numbers, punctuations, plus a whole bunch of fun things like animals, vehicles, a camera, and even a sewing machine. Plus, there's a ton of quilt patterns in there. I love word quilts. In the past, I've been paper piecing my letters. But now, this is my new favorite alphabet. /gush.


The donkey is from a pattern that's been around a long time. It was first published in the Kansas City star in 1931! Tim Latimer of Tim Quilts wrote more about the history here.

Source
I chose brown and blue for the main colors because they are both used for colorectal cancer ribbons and awareness. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect minky for the back. Chocolate and blue were so popular when my son was born, but it's harder to find now.

Learn more about colorectal cancer here at the Colon Cancer Alliance.

Linked to:
OMG November Link up @ Elm Street Quilts
BOMs Away @ What a Hoot Quilts
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Let's Bee Social #202 @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Linky Party Tuesday @ Free Motion by the River
Midweek Makers #97 @ Quilt Fabrication
Oh Scrap @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Off the Wall Friday @ Nina Marie
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts
Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts
Monday Making @ Live Love Quilt
MOP Monday @ Tweety Loves Quilting
Moving It Forward @ Em's Scrap Bag
Needle & Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation
Wednesday Wait Loss #39 @ The Inquiring Quilter
Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
WIP link up @ Silly Mama Quilts
WIPs on Wednesday @ Esther's Blog


Posted by Jen @ de Jong Dream House at 7:53 PM 9 comments
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Monday, November 7, 2016

Quilt #69: It Is Well


A million years ago when I was single and before I broke my brain, I lived in Michigan and worked at Family Christian Stores. It was my favorite job. I interviewed authors and artists, went to lots of free concerts, traveled to Nashville often, and wrote lots and lots of copy. I had great co-workers, too, which made my job a place I liked to be each day. During this season of my life, I was writing my first book, the late great Generation Ex. One of my colleagues was especially supportive as I wrote about the long-term effects of parental divorce.

Photo Credit: Chris Clark
Steve Johnson became my Michigan dad. I started calling him Papa Steve, and others who shared my admiration of his integrity, compassion, solid work ethic, and terrible puns also started using his new moniker. He provided endless wise counsel as I  needed help with my car, bought my first house, and untangled the branches of my complicated family bush. Steve loves cars, coffee, gospel music (especially hymns), serving, and his family. How he loves his family! He and his wife, Bev, are such a model of enduring marriage, and you can only know Steve a few minutes before his love for his wife becomes apparent.

In 2007, I moved to Ohio to begin my married life, and as frequently happens, our every day friends become friends we think of fondly as their name scrolls across our Facebook feed. Like many of his generation, Steve doesn't post a lot on Facebook. In fact, it was a mutual friend who posted about a sort of pre-funeral that was held for Steve. A what?! Friends and family gathered to tell Steve what he means to them. They just couldn't wait for him to die. And what instigated this celebration of Steve's life?

In June of 2015, Steve was diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma. He has cancer in his right lung. And his brain. And his liver. And his bones. It's been sixteen months since he was diagnosed, but Steve is still here. He hardly posts about himself on Facebook. But almost every day he posts lyrics from his favorite hymns.


I'm glad Steve is kicking cancer's backside for many reasons, but selfishly, I am grateful because it means I was able to make him a quilt.

The original inspiration for Steve's quilt is this one by Melissa of All Buttoned Up. It's called The Proverbial Quilt, which is just the kind of pun that makes me think of Steve.


When I thought of what words I would put on a quilt for Steve, I knew it had to be a hymn. The first one I thought of was "It Is Well With My Soul" by Horatio Spafford. If you don't know the story behind the song, take a moment to read it. Mr. Spafford and his wife endured unspeakable tragedy, first losing a son and most of his material wealth in the Great Chicago Fire. Then, two years later, he lost all four of his daughters when the ship they were sailing with their mother sank. When he sailed by the spot himself en route to his grieving wife, he was inspired to write this hymn.

Source
I went through a lot of iterations from there. From mostly words to words on water. Then adding a cross, then a sunset, before landing on the (mostly) final design. So really, it's not at all like the quilt that inspired me. Go figure.

I started with the paper-pieced words because that was the part I was most afraid of messing up. I bought the Wonky Alphabet  pattern from Kelby Sews. I love the fun font she created.

Link
It always takes me a little bit to get back into the swing of paper-piecing. I'm guaranteed to mess up at least a few things as I will sew wrong sides together.  When I finished the first three "well," I felt like the quilt was being a little snarky and that made me giggle. 


I modified a few of the letters so they were all capitalized. I also made a last minute fabric change for the water blocks and I am glad I did.


Once the letters were done, the bottom half of the quilt came together quickly. I swapped a couple colors to make the reflection of the cross. 


I started the sunset half with the cross and made blocks moving out from it.


Once I got to the purples, it took a few tries to settle on the right purples.


I wasn't completely sold on the last purple, but couldn't resist a purple batik with crosses.


I'm stepping out of my comfort zone with my quilting. I stuck with straight line quilting on the sunset, with beams coming out of cross. Instead of using invisible thread, as I might have before, I used a rainbow variegated thread.


I stepped way out of my comfort zone for the bottom half of the quilt. I picked up my first free motion ruler at a quilt show. I was a little nervous about using it on a real quilt, especially with minky on the back, but it was going well so I kept with it.


Overall, I'm pretty happy with the effort. I don't often use minky on quilts except for baby quilts, but with winter coming, I'm hoping that it keeps Steve warm, body and soul.



Between Steve's health and the distances between our homes, it's quite possible that this is the last time I'll see Steve this side of heaven. I let the label speak for me.


We drove up to Michigan this week to deliver the quilt in person. It was an unbelievable 70 degrees...in November!  I couldn't resist taking a few photos on Lake Michigan with my favorite model.


That night, I was able to give Steve his quilt in person. Such a wonderful night!


Epilogue:
Papa Steve well-lived earthly life ended on February 5, 2018.


To see more pictures of this quilt in progress, look for #itiswellquilt on Instagram. If you'd like to see what I'm currently working on, follow me at de Jong Dream House.

Linked to:
Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Linky Tuesday @ Free Motion by the River
Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication
Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
Needle & Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation
Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She
Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Posted by Jen @ de Jong Dream House at 10:47 AM 12 comments
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