Friday, October 18, 2019

Kinda Brave

What is an appropriate gift for a young woman who is celebrating her high school graduation, her 18th birthday and is on her way to a prestigious college?

Kinda Brave

A quilt, of course.

Pieced Backing

Did I mention that she did all this while she was fighting a debilitating disease with multiple doctor visits and hospital stays? And she also wrote a book about her experiences and published it too.

Kinda Chronic by Ashni Sethi


Meet Ashni. Better still read about her book here.

Ashni's Mom is my friend, Manveen.
I conspired with Ashni's parents in making this quilt.
Ashni likes dogs and loves the ocean. Her favorite colors are blue, gold and red.

Pattern Sketch


This was helpful, sure. But Ashni's quilt needed to be more, much more than just a compilation of her favorite things. She needs to covered with love, support, good wishes and blessings from her friends and family as she celebrated her book, and embarked on her journey to college - a whole new chapter in her already challenging life.


Blues


The pattern was easy. I chose Scrap Happy by Amanda Jean Nyberg.
Of course I had all the fabrics.

Backing Fabrics

I had all the ingredients for the body of the quilt.
I just needed to infuse it with soul.

The opportunity came at Ashni's birthday party.  I arrived at the party armed with freezer paper rectangles, a traveling iron, felt blanket, archival pens, and background fabric rectangles. I bullied (urged, cajoled and encouraged) the attendees to write messages of love, encouragement, support and best wishes for Ashni.

From Grandma


I roped in two guests to help with peeling and re-attaching the freezer paper to the background fabrics. The pens were a bit tricky for non-quilting folk and not everyone stayed in the center of the rectangles.

From Auntie

I was conspicuous as I flitted from one guest to another, asking them to retrace their letters so that the ink was dark enough, leave room for seam allowances, and are you done with the pen?
But there was no way Ashni could have known the full extent of the conspiracy.

From a friend


Some messages were simple birthday wishes, others celebrated Ashni's accomplishments, and others promised her love and support. Some were simple, others were funny and some were deeply touching. I am glad to have been part of the journey.

Quilting in process

Ready to Bind

Zebra binding

Almost done


Here are some pictures showing the completed quilt.

Light & Shade - A metaphor for life?

So cool!!!

Twisted
Fabric Rose?

Folded


Puppies YAY!!!

The messages are not visible at first glance, just like the adorable puppies are rather subtle.
But come closer and the warmth of the messages and the cuteness of the puppies will engulf you.


Love the red fabric
I had just enough red fabric left over from Enchanted Lake to border the puppy fabric to make this pieced backing.

Labelled

Showing off the Label

Of course, I am showing off.  Just in case any of Ashni's friends from college want a personalized quilt, I want to make sure that they have no trouble finding me :-)  Just search for "Sew Preeti Quilts" and send me a message.


Rolled up

Sunshine and Puppies = Perfection

So many Good Wishes in a Bundle of Comfort

I gave the completed quilt to Manveen last month. She happily posed for some pictures.

You are hiding behind it.
Much better

Together!!!


I am told that Ashni LOVED her quilt. And here she is confirming it with a gentle smile.

Ashni with her quilt


As usual, I'd love to hear from you. I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties. See full list on the sidebar.

46 comments:

  1. That looks like the perfect quilt for Ashni, Preeti! The handwritten messages make it so personal. Such a lovely gift!

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  2. Such a thoughtful quilt, made with love. She will enjoy the details while getting a hug whenever she needs it.

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  3. so very nice to make a quilt for her - good luck to her in college!

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  4. I would have loved to see you sneaking around the party getting people to write a message. The quilt is wonderful. I'm sure she will treasure it. She sounds like an amazing young woman.

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  5. What a beautiful, heartfelt and thoughtful gift. Certainly it will remind Ashni of the love that friends and family have for her. You knocked another one out of the park! xo

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  6. What a wonderful and thoughtful quilt. I am glad you managed to get Manveen to show her kind smile!

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  7. It’s a perfect pattern to use for a “friendship” quilt! The colors are wonderful! Don’t be surprised if you get requests for many personalized quilts from Ashni’s college friends! !

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  8. Preeti you are such a talented quilter, but this post brought tears to my eyes because of the layers of thoughtfulness. Ashni will have something to blanket her in love. I’m sure this gift will be cherished during her college years and beyond.

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  9. What a wonderful quilt to make for such a brave young woman. It's wonderful that you incorporated messages from friends and family. You are an amazing quilter, and a kind and caring friend.

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  10. There is no end to your amazing quilting accomplishments, Preeti. This young lady will always be enveloped in love.

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  11. Preeti, again you have made a beautiful quilt with such great messages. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Oh Preeti what a wonderful idea and a beautiful reminder of love to this young woman as she goes through life.

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  13. A super quilt with a super story! What could be better? Congratulations on a mission accomplished.

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  14. I loved hearing the story and seeing the progress photo. This is what quilting is all about - sharing love and support. What a wonderful gift. Way to go Preeti!

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  15. Wow, I really love this quilt and the story behind it is heart-warming. The way you devised to write the personal notes to be included in the quilt is wonderful.

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  16. You pack so much love into your quilts, it's a wonder you have any left, but you do. What a marvelous gift. It will be treasured.
    Pat

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  17. Oh Preeti, what a wonderful thing you did having all those people sign a special message for her and put them all into a special quilt. You are such a sweetie! I am sure it will mean a lot to Ahsni.

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  18. I have seen (and made) many graduation quilts, but this is by far the most personal and meaningful of any of them. Beautifully conceived and executed -- what a treasure for Ashni (and her family).

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  19. Such joy! I love so many things about this quilt - the hidden messages on graph paper, the fun back with 2 different but exciting fabrics. I am sure she is treasuring this and your love and the love of her family/friends/village on her journey.

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  20. What a beautiful quilt and what a beautiful gift! A great way to adapt that pattern into a memory quilt. She must be thrilled, and she'll get to use it forever, too. Her mom looks so happy. You just spread love everywhere! Great finish!

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  21. Absolutely beyond words! You have made a lovely quilt extra special by adding all the personal messages. Perfect. I'm sure it will cherished and loved.

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  22. You are such a thoughtful and creative person. It's just beautiful.

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  23. Fabulous quilt for a special girl!! Very nicely done, Preeti.

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  24. You did such an amazing thing with this quilt. The messages were genius. It is truly over the top. great job

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  25. Hi Preeti! This IS, without a doubt, the best.quilt.ever. And if you want to quibble, I might amend it to the best.quilt.story.ever. I love every single thing about this post. I can just see you hopping from table to table. Do you need help? Are you finished with the pen? Would you mind tracing over your letters again so they're a little darker? Oh, yes. I can visualize because we made one of these same quilts once. Not the same pattern, not the same fabric, not for the same person but with the exact same sentiments - good wishes and lots of love for the recipient. I am 100% certain that Ashni LOVES her quilt and you shall be updating this post shortly with a lovely young woman broadly smiling. I wish her all the best as the world is at her fingertips - oh, the things she will do and see. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne

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  26. I loved the quilt in blue and white but reading on and seeing that you had messages in there - so amazing. I am sure it is LOVED! You are such a generous, warm and loving person. xo

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  27. What a fantastic idea for a quilt to send reminders of love while Ashni journeys through life. Brings happy smiles to all who read your post, so I'm certain she will definitely love it!

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  28. Oh Preeti!! Every time I read your blog it touches my heart - I so love this story! and what a gorgeous girl!! I am not her fellow college mates - but if you do make them personalized quilts... I want to see!!! Hugs my heartfelt friend !

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  29. You are just so wonderfull Preeti. It's a beautiful quilt for a beautiful young woman and what a great idea to get all the messages from friends and family as she goes on her journey.

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  30. You are a lovely giving soul Preeti, such a lovely thing to do, you have made a very special quilt it will give her much comfort in the years to come.

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  31. Wow, what an amazing gift!!! The blues are amazing but the thought that you put into each selection, including the fabrics in the back, is so incredibly thoughtful. And I love, love, LOVE the good wishes in the quilt!

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  32. Brilliant! Fabulous. Love the puppies.... another great quilt that comes with a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing...

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  33. What a fabulous present you have given! Not simply a striking quilt, but more importantly, words of love and encouragement embracing her as she heads off on her journey into adulthood. I'm sure she'll treasure it.

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  34. All your efforts are shown in the joy on your friend's face and her beautiful girl. What a lovely effort on your part to send her off with the best wishes from all.

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  35. You’ve made a quilt full of joy, comfort and beauty. I really enjoyed reading this story and seeing your work! May I put this on Pinterest with the link back to your post?

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  36. Wow Preeti, you amaze me with each of your quilts. This is ultra special and loved all the attention given to give the love wrapped blanket. Job very well don ! I have no words to describe how u feel.

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  37. There's just something about wrapping someone in the love and warmth of their friends and family. Well done!

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  38. What a beautiful vibrant young lady! You made her a spectacular quilt that she can cherish forever. The wishes written are a very nice touch!

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  39. That's a pretty one Preeti! Love your color choices!

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  40. Beautiful quilt filled with love! You nailed it :)

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  41. What a great quilt to celebrate all those accomplishments and remind her she's loved when she's off at college

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  42. What a beautiful, accomplished girl, both inside and out!
    Her quilt reminds me of the one I made for Father Ibe when he was leaving. I know you had as much fun making this one. How many times did you read and reread the notes?

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  43. Gosh she sure is one beautiful young woman, and I love the photo of her in her room wrapped up in the quilt. What a superb way to remind her of all the love and support she has...I can just see you surreptitiously getting (cajoling as you say) people to write on the rectangle patches! I really love the blues but putting the warm colours on the back gives it another extra ahhhh!

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  44. This is such a special gift. So much thought and planning went into it. She will treasure it always!

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  45. Light and Shade is lovely, I love the binding, but oh I so love the scrap vortex. The Vortex is so bright and colourful and fun, it makes a wonderful baby quilt. It makes me want to pull out my boxes of scraps and dive right in. I love it Preeti.

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