Hello, my quilting/blogging friends.
Once again, it has been a while. I wish I was in a better place and I wish it could be different.
But I do have a new quilt and we will focus on that, for now.
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| With Marcia |
It began with Marcia, who is my former boss. She retired after her 81st birthday. Kudos to her, because I am sure I can't make it to my 60th before calling it quits.
When Marcia learned about my quilting hobby (obsession), she introduced me to her neighbor - Lesley. Lesley is an art quilter. I need a whole separate blogpost to describe Lesley's work. She takes her inspiration from nature and excels in applique and embellishments.
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| Lesley (notice the elephants in the quilt behind her) |
We, Lesley and I, admire each other's work. She appreciates my sense of color and composition and I am totally floored by her microscopic attention to detail and excellent workmanship.
When Lesley's daughter, Jeni, got engaged, Lesley asked me to make a quilt, embodying the feel of Colorado, Jeni's after-marriage-new-home-state. Jeni's favorite colors are green, purple and crimson.
I shared several mock-ups with Lesley, inspired by my previous quilts/patterns.
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| Shanvi/Phagun |
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| Yamini |
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| Niko |
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| Honi |
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| Fireworks |
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| Arboretum |
This is what Lesley picked, a combination of Arboretum and Moon over the Mountain.
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| Final! |
A queen size quilt with curved piecing, lots of angles and a scrappy border. My work was cut out for me.
I knew that Green and Purple would have a sufficient contrast against the white background. But I wasn't sure about the Yellows.
I chose Solid White instead of Egg White, due to better contrast. Background confirmed, it was time to pick out Purples and Greens.
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| Island Batik Purples |
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| Island Batik Greens |
Sufficiently excited, I decided to make one each of the blocks and show it to Lesley.
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| Tree Block |
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| Sunrise Block |
Once all blocks were made, I sent another picture to Lesley.
Once the top was completed, I asked Lesley if she had a preference for the backing color.
She chose Green. I chose Dark Purple for Binding. And here are the pictures of the finished quilt - Jeni's Colorado.
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| Finished!!! |
Since it is a Queen-sized quilt, I knew taking pictures will be a challenge. For Paul's ease, I added a temporary sleeve wherein a curtain rod was inserted. Hence the perfect pictures and a much happier quilt model.
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| Island Batik Fabrics |
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| Crushing on you |
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| Sunny & Labelled |
When I took the finished quilt to Lesley, there were oohs and aahs. Marcia and Lesley posed with it and I took some more pictures.
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| You two are adorable! |
One week later, Lesley sent me a picture.
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| From Jeni |
I am told they love the quilt!
My work has been stressful and I have been struggling. While Paul has been very supportive, I feel like I must carry on for now.
Beautiful quilt! You gave her so many options, I'm not sure how she chose - they were/are all stunning. And what a wonderful thing to make the quilt, though if you're like me, making the quilt is as much fun as giving it away! I know you keep your troubles to yourself lately, as do I, but I'm hoping for a brighter future...soon!
ReplyDeleteJeni's Colorado is beautiful. I'm sorry that you aren't in a better place and I hope your situation improves soon.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry, I can only hope things get better. There is little worse than a job you dread going to, but for good reasons can't quit.
ReplyDeleteOn the bright side, that quilt is fabulous! And huge! What a workout quilting that. You are a marvelous friend.
What a gorgeous quilt, Preeti;))) I love the golden yellow moons...you did yourself proud for sure. I am saddened to hear that things aren't going that well for you; sending uplifting thoughts your way ;)))
ReplyDeletehugs x2 Julierose
I'm so sorry your work life has been so stressful. But it hasn't crushed your creativity! What a beautiful quilt!! Your color choices are perfect and I love the layout.
ReplyDeleteSending you a big hug for the work stress -- it seems like everyone I talk to these days is being beaten down at work by employers demanding more than ever before, "restructuring" and changing compensation rules and reducing benefits, making employees as miserable as possible while expecting everyone to massively increase productivity. "The beatings will continue until morale improves," as they say. The Colorado Sunrise quilt is beautiful, a wonderfully thoughtful gift for those newlyweds.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's so pretty! It makes me want to travel to Colorado, and to quilt more.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful quilt and I am sure it will be well used and loved. Also, the texts between you and Lesley are sweet. I have absolutely no intention of working until I am 81 (oh my goodness), and I am sending you lots of love as you navigate everything.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with Rebecca Grace's comment about the work place. Mental hugs are being sent your way. I love your new quilt. You did a spectacular job. I also appreciate your story telling. Maybe it's time to write a book? Keep quilting and keep plugging away. Life has to get better one of these days...or two + years from now!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I love that you included your customer in the decisions and process along the way. <3 It really does capture the personality of Colorado! Thanks for sharing in Sew & Tell.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous finished quilt. You definitely got the essence perfectly right. Hopefully you are getting in lots of sanity stitching right now. All of us definitely need lots of that right now.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful quilt with a great story to go along with it! It's good to have our sewing rooms to go to when life and work get stressful. Sending you big quilty hugs, Preeti!
ReplyDeleteExcellent choice by Lesley. Beautifully executed by you.
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThe Colorado quilt is stunning. You did such a great job selecting fabrics and the quilting is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous quilts. Great job on quilting too. Xoxoxoxo
ReplyDeleteit is hard to struggle on if you are dissatisfied with something in your life I hope things get better and the quilt looks wonderful
ReplyDeleteI’m so, so sorry life is hard for you. It’s hard for a lot of people, I know and it reminds me how fortunate I am. It’s so easy to forget how lucky we are. We all tend to focus way too much on what’s wrong and not nearly enough on hoe fortunate we are. Especially in the great scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteI’m not speaking to you, Preeti, but to all of us in general. We are so much better off that the vast majority of people in the world, so lucky and spoiled, and yet we complain about the few things we don’t have.
I hope things get better for you at work, or you get to a point where it will be OK for you to quit or change jobs.
Meanwhile, your quilt is glorious. I’m impressed that you could take on a commission for such a large quilt. And give so many options. It’s amazing. As would have been any of the choices. I would have picked the fireworks quilt! Though I’m not sure it was very much a Colorado motive, it just struck my fancy. If I didn’t already have about 15 UFOs, I might just start making that quilt myself. But I cannot start a random new quilt. I really cannot!
I love Jeni's Colorado. I live on a mountain top and I can relate!
ReplyDeleteYes, Marcia deserves all the kudos! But... I'll bet you'll be "working" at 81 - doing what you love and makes your heart sing - making more quilts for the world to enjoy.
Making a temporary sleeve to hang the quilt for photos was a true act of love, but I missed seeing your devoted quilt model!
The quilt is so beautiful. A perfect choice for Colorado . I’m sure the lucky couple feel all the love when they are snuggled under it.
ReplyDeleteBig hugs to help you with your job struggles. I’ve been in those shoes and pray things are better soon.
It is perfect!!!! It really does scream Colorado!! and the colors - ohh la la... now.. you know you have another friend who lives here ? - I mean lives in Colorado ( hint - its me!!) haha!! glad you were able to do that quilt for your friend and they love it so much
ReplyDeletePreeti, I love the quilt. The colors are so beautiful together. In fact I love all your quilts! You have a big fan in West Virginia!
ReplyDeleteLove the colorado quilt. One of your older patterns I thought. I dont comment usually but would like to offer words of encouragement. Dont know what they would be but please know you brighten my day when I see a new post of yours. Even though your newer job is less than ideal especially the long drive, I bet you brighten the day of coworkers with your beautiful smile and kindness. Hang in there. We love what you do here.
ReplyDeleteWow, your new quilt is a beauty, I love the trees and mountains too! Well done, and it's very nice to have a photo of the quilt on the bed. Thank you so much for sharing your inspiring work, take care. Big and warm hugs.
ReplyDeleteOh, Preeti, what a wonderful quilt you have made. I hope that working on it gave you some needed relief from your job stress. Although I found it stressful to make the 3 commission quilts I agreed to. Never again. My meditation teachers always remind us that everything changes. We tend to think we will always be stuck where we are. Your cyber friends are thinking of you and you have Paul for support. May you find peace.
ReplyDeletePat
Hi Preeti, it's a really fabulous quilt. I hope that life will get easier for you. At least you have an amazing quilting obsession :-) Thanks for linking up to I Quilted This!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilt, Preeti!!! It represents Colorado beautifully. I really like the Yamini and Niko versions, too. I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties at work. So good that you have a supportive husband by your side.
ReplyDeleteHugs, dear friend! I can sense the tension in your words. Hopefully making such a happy quilt gave you a bit of respite. Your old boss looks like such a lovely woman, as does your quilter friend. Your quilt is the essence of Colorado. The bride will love it! Thanks for sharing on my weekly show and tell, Wednesday Wait Loss.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2026/09/02/wednesday-wait-loss-500