in an effort to be honest in this little space of mine, i should say right now:
i have not been looking forward to writing about this quilt.
i jumped right into this quilt without really thinking about it beforehand - i had never made, let alone finished, a project of this size before. never cut this much fabric before. never hand quilted anything larger than a place mat before. and never had i worked on something for such an extended period of time.
and then there were plenty of breaks in the process. i got sick of the quilting process and the crampy, achey fingers that were an unfortunate side effect. i didn't want to finish binding it off after discovering that my math was wrong and i hadn't made enough binding in the first place. but i finished it, bottom line.
this 'never have i ever' and 'i'll do it tomorrow' style of quilting led to a few mistakes - i'm not happy with all of my fabric choices. there are some places where my quilting gets a little wobbly and sparse. but i can call it charming and shabby and ignore the little things that only the quilt's quilter would ever notice.
and then there were plenty of breaks in the process. i got sick of the quilting process and the crampy, achey fingers that were an unfortunate side effect. i didn't want to finish binding it off after discovering that my math was wrong and i hadn't made enough binding in the first place. but i finished it, bottom line.
this 'never have i ever' and 'i'll do it tomorrow' style of quilting led to a few mistakes - i'm not happy with all of my fabric choices. there are some places where my quilting gets a little wobbly and sparse. but i can call it charming and shabby and ignore the little things that only the quilt's quilter would ever notice.
and now we sleep underneath it every night.
frankie jumps on it every morning,
i photograph it in fields of tomatoes,
and i love it in all of its 'first quilt' glory.
frankie jumps on it every morning,
i photograph it in fields of tomatoes,
and i love it in all of its 'first quilt' glory.
Amish quilters have a practice of intentionally including a "mistake" so that God won't be offended - as his work is the only truly 'perfect' work. The Japanese culture of Wabi-Sabi values the imperfections in things that occur with use, and love. When something ages it gathers patina - cracks in a ceramic bowl, dents and scratches on a wooden table top, holes and their corresponding patches in cloth of all kinds speak to the reverence and love with which an object is used and tended to and bring life and personality to that object as it becomes a more deeply cherished part of the household to which it belongs. I think this quilt simply has an Amish Wabi-Sabi energy from the git-go...it is well loved in its imperfection and I for one would rather have a simple "homely" quilt made with love than a sterile show piece. This quilt is most likely the one that will become an heirloom - a family treasure, passed down with those stories of bed-jumping and trips to take pictures in the tomato fields. Well done, Hannah!
ReplyDeleteIt looks great! You would never know there are any mistakes. And you know what, its imperfections make it unique and special. I love it.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is an amazing "first". Congrats on making it through! !:)
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