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?
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| Kinda Brave |
A quilt, of course.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Blues |
The pattern was easy. I chose Scrap Happy by Amanda Jean Nyberg.
Of course I had all the fabrics.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Quilting in process |
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| Ready to Bind |
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| Zebra binding |
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| Almost done |
Here are some pictures showing the completed quilt.
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| Light & Shade - A metaphor for life? |
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| So cool!!! |
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| Twisted |
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| Fabric Rose? |
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| Folded |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Labelled |
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| 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.
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| Rolled up |
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| Sunshine and Puppies = Perfection |
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| So many Good Wishes in a Bundle of Comfort |
I gave the completed quilt to Manveen last month. She happily posed for some pictures.
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| You are hiding behind it. |
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| Much better |
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| Together!!! |
I am told that Ashni LOVED her quilt. And here she is confirming it with a gentle smile.
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| 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.
