A Mother's Love: Blogger's Quilt Festival

Amy's Creative Side is hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival this month; be sure to check her icon to see the other quilts entered in this year's group!  Voting will open in a few days...(I am #309 if you like my quilt, either way, be sure to check out all the beautiful projects entered this year!)...

It has been a year since I first shared my quilt which I've called, A Mother's Love.  I Can't begin to imagine what this year would have held even if I had been told.

Last year we lost our triplet babies; the first at 12 weeks, and then the other 2 three weeks later.  I was pretty overwhelmed and yet I wanted to find a way to honor their memories even though I will not meet them in this world.  When I was at the quilt shop I was given a brochure advertising a contest to make a quilt top that used 1 jelly roll, 1 charm square pack, and up to 2 yards of other material.  This is the design that I came up with, although in the end I did not enter it in the contest, when it was completed I felt like I had won something in my own heart.

I worked at the quilt on and off for several months and yet every time I tried to complete it, my heart was heavy and I folded it away in disgust with myself.  In April of last year I contracted meningitis which made it impossible to work, but I was able to spend short amounts of time sitting on the couch at a table to piece some of the parts together; before I knew it, I had completed all of the top besides the sashing I added later.   I could see the goal in sight and suddenly I made the goal to myself  to have the quilt completed by mother's day 2011.

A couple days before the due date I finally had everything pieced, spray basted together and had only to add the quilt stitching.  I went with a swirling flower design that I randomly came up with in my head.  The quilt was finished and bound just before the goal I had set out for myself.

A month later we would find out that I was pregnant again.  This past February I gave birth to our precious daughter, Ziona.  I still am trying to figure out the best quilt design to honor this wonderful miracle that was given to us.  What I learned about myself was that sometimes I do my best work when I have not planned everything out.  I let my heart lead on this project and for now, it remains my favorite quilt that I have ever made.