A Quilt That Looks Like Me

Today is the day. On Facebook you go, Blog!

Here is my latest and greatest to get you newbs to think about sticking around or coming back.

Photo and Patchwork by E. Henning.
Pattern by Vonda Davis (Quilty 2016).

Photo and Patchwork by E. Henning.
Pattern by Vonda Davis (Quilt 2016).

In case you need a little introductory course in why quilts matter (and in this case, why they matter to me), this essay I wrote will maybe help. I entered it in a contest at the end of March. It didn't win. But that's okay.

My essay is personal. It is gushy. It seems like the kind of thing I would never, ever post on Facebook to encourage other people to read.

This crazy idea is Elizabeth Gilbert's fault. Have you read Big Magic?? GO READ IT RIGHT NOW. I'm going to review it on my blog soon. But it's a book for everyone. It's a book about Creativity with a capital C and it is seriously amazing. Seriously. It just might make you share your blog on Facebook with everyone you know. It can do crazy things like that...

Okay, wait! Maybe read this essay first before you dive into some magic with Liz.

Have at it, Reader. Enjoy.

***

This sixth quilt of mine is different. I fully believe in the giving of quilts and have found such unbridled pleasure in watching my girlfriends open boxes with handmade magic inside. I would never trade those countless hours of making for them. But this quilt will not be wrapped, gifted, or given. This one is for me.

I’ve named it “Mine” for now because that is the best way to describe how it feels. It’s made of bright, saturated rich colors that I like-- teals, reds, mustard yellow, and navy. Some blocks look like crazy joy, like happy nonsense, and others look like a quiet kind of sadness. This concept and idea is kindly borrowed from the one and only Mary Fons-- I made a quilt that looks like me.

I was initially looking for a way to burn through some beloved prints in my fabric stash. I wanted to include a large variety of designs and colors, while still maintaining a sense of structure to the quilt. A traditional nine-patch block was the answer. The pattern is from Quilty’s Fall 2016 Scrappy Issue and was originally crafted by Vonda Davis. Nine-patch blocks sit beside solid squares that help to anchor the quilt. I loved that the nine-patch blocks took a spin on their heads by being set within the quilt diagonally to create a different look. It was quirky but classic and maybe a little like me, I’d like to think.

Something unexpected happened to me while making Mine. I was going through a rough time to tell the truth-- feeling overwhelmed with the daily grind, handling a stupid bout of ugly anxiety, fighting those winter blues. In the process of sewing my 70 nine-patch blocks, I eventually experienced meditation through patchwork. Coming home after a shitty day, I would plop at my machine. That hum on my old-school Singer would drown out all the annoying things that happened. After sewing square to square to square, row to row to row, I would feel better.

I started Mine after Christmas, when the dreary days of January were just starting to gnaw at me. While cutting and sewing and pressing, I got this hammock idea. My husband and I have a great yard with big, old trees. I started visualizing myself in a hammock with this quilt (that wasn’t and isn’t yet a quilt). The meditative process of sewing and this daydream helped me dig my way out of a hard couple months.

Tomorrow is the first day of spring. My quilt has a lot left to go. I spent much of this morning assembling blocks to form the top corner. I haven’t picked out binding but got real obsessed with this solid pink fabric that makes me giddy just thinking about it. This quilt made me realize that creativity can change things. It inspired me to start a blog and take another quilting class. It made me realize that even the ugly days contain beauty when set in the context of my life as a whole, when looking at the entire quilt and not just that one dark, flawed block.

This April or May, I will swing in that hammock with Mine and a good novel and I will smile in the sun.

I did it. And I will keep doing it-- keep quilting-- because this making is making me.

Making a Wedding (An Imperfect One That I Loved Anyway)

Awhile back, I received an email from a lady who worked for Chicago Style Weddings Magazine. I was excited but also confused-- why would anyone want to feature our wedding?!

I'm still not totally sure of that...but they have featured us!

Photograph by Holly Donovan.

Click here to check it out!

My husband and I got married last June and had a very modest, simple wedding outside with dear loved ones. We didn't have a videographer. We didn't have a cajillion dollar photographer. We didn't have a chocolate fountain, or plated meals, or a decadent expensive wedding cake. I bought my dress from David's Bridal because I couldn't sleep at night knowing my bridal gown cost more than almost any other thing we own. My bridesmaids wore whatever they wanted for dresses and jewelry with simple guidelines to pick navy outfits that made them feel good. We didn't take fancy photographs in the hotel room before the wedding. 

Not that any of those things are bad!! But wedding industry B.S. makes it seem as if their way is the only way. 

It's not the only way.

We did it our way.

And we are still featured on a blog! Which is cool!

We made the day our own. 

I am still obsessed with our flowers. I loved my veil. The vintage pieces we rented from Forever Birdy in the Harvard Starline Building still give me goosebumps. Even though it was an undertaking, I made a giant fabric banner to hang between the trees in the park where we were married because I wanted something to hold onto in our home to remind of us of the vows we made. 

Photograph by Holly Donovan.

Many parts were perfect. And I thought I would want to wipe out or hide the parts that weren't. But instead, to prove that nothing on the Internet is exactly perfect, even when it looks that way...I'll share some secrets.

There were unexpected PortaPotties in the park that were in the frame of view when my family and myself walked down the aisle. 

It was HOT. It was in the 90's, sweating your head off, kind of hot.

We cried like freaks. Like snot-nosed, ugly-cry. Tissues were necessary, not optional.

Weddings aren't perfect. And either are marriages. It made realize that the things people make and post on the Internet might seem perfect but indeed actually have flaws, too.

So for the posts I write that seem just "perfect", please kindly remember, I might have had to move a pile of dirty laundry first or crop out empty beer cans. 

Big Duh Moment Here: Life is Not and Will Not Be Perfect.

I lost the Mary Fons Essay Contest. The blocks I whipped out like a madwoman are not quite exactly 10x10 like they're supposed to be. Instead of proofreading this five times like I normally do, I'm just going to hit publish. 

Because here's something I've figured out-- sometimes it's the act of making, that moment of making when you are IN IT that matters more than what everyone (including yourself) sees afterward.

Make Friends (with CLMQG and Suzy!)

So I did this scary thing I was afraid to do. I joined a Quilt Guild!

Image borrowed kindly from https://www.themodernquiltguild.com/

I was going to attend as a guest first and then I decided to just go for it.

It was amazing meeting these generous, kind, creative people who just do their damn thang.

I am so excited to be part of their group.

My bravery was partly inspired by the opportunity to meet Suzy from Suzy Quilts.

I hope this isn't a weirdo creeper pic but I think this helps
demonstrate the fact that Suzy looks as cool as
I will (hopefully) make her sound.

She was laid back, kind, down to earth, funny, and real. Suzy made us laugh and let us touch and hold her quilts. She encouraged us to ask questions. Suzy was very humble. And cool! She was really cool.

And her quilts were seriously beautiful. I loved her colors. I loved her design. I love seeing things I've stared at on the Internet come to life in person with my actual eyeballs looking the actual thing and not just a picture of that thing.

Here's a stack of Suzy's quilts. A stack of quilts makes me freak out. Every. Time. There is something so impressive and awe-inspiring to me about a whole big stack of magic. I am aware that I may tend to overuse "magic" but one day on this blog I will talk about Elizabeth Gilbert's book Big Magic and you will know why I am so obsessed with that particular word.

A woman in the guild pointed out the running stitch in the binding.
We loved it!! Funky and fun.

Suzy has created these really neat, eclectic patterns in a series called "Sew Mojo" where she encourages quilters (and other artists alike) to play and find joy in imperfection and just go for it. Here is one of hers below on my beloved all-things-life journal. I take it with me anytime I'm prepared to be inspired. 

And oh goodness...I was.

Sew Mojo Quilt Art by Suzy.

As you can see, I bought pretty much all the things. 

And am so glad I did.

Koll Quilt

Sunshine on Saturday and Sunday makes the whole weekend feel like magic.

I wanted to share this quilt before I box this baby up for another one of my dear girlfriends joining the Mom Club. She is going to be such a caring, loving, fun, sweet, nurturing, goofy, amazing mother.

I can't wait to meet you, Baby Koll!

Pattern by Amanda Jean Nyberg in
Beginner Friendly Quilts: The Best of Quilty.

I. Love. Colors.

Scrap City!

Lots to come soon!

I am going to my first Modern Quilt Guild meeting today AND oooogling at Suzy Quilts showcasing her work in a trunk show. Woo! Her blog is super inspiring and I'm so excited to meet her. Go check her out!

P.S. I love her dog.

http://suzyquilts.com/

I also started another class this week with Darlene. I think I might be brave and tell her about the blog today...

I have been pinning and sewing and pressing like a madwoman this weekend after some heavy inspiration on Thursday night.

Here's a sneak peek of my new project from class...

Pin. Sew. Press. Repeat.
I love that meditative magic.