This is the end of the blog tour for Wanderlust Quilts! I hope that you’ve had a chance to acquaint yourself with the other hoppers, because all of them are passionate people who love quilts and quilters, and I admire them all so , so much!
I wanted to share with you today what may have been the unrecognized motivator for my own journey of understanding the world:
Yep. That’s the Parthenon alright, but in Nashville, TN, where I grew up. Originally constructed for the Tennessee’s Centennial Exposition in 1897, they recast it (quite literally, with giant molds) in concrete to make it a permanent structure, while all of the other Wonders at the Expo were removed. It’s a 1:1 model, with all details intact, and has casts of the sculpture from the pediments inside. It also has the largest indoor statue in the Western world: Athena stands to the ceiling inside this building, and gives a crazy sense of scale when you consider the original was made out of chryselephantine, i.e. gold and ivory.
Some things stick with us, and for me, in this moment as I look at myself in the daffodils, it’s that we human beings seek ties to the others humans around us, past, present, and future. We seek to make connections that allow us to fit into a grander scheme, the bigger picture, asserting our independence and our shared experiences at the same time. It’s like one of those art projects with the string and nails, where we each put our nail in to provide for the shape, but how the string is wound from point to point gives it the form.
I hope that Wanderlust Quilts gets you excited about these points and that thread in your own life, that you try the techniques and tell your own stories, make your own connections, put that into the world around you. Creating is a gift, and I’d like to give you the chance to win a gift from me: a copy of Wanderlust Quilts and a mini quilt that was the seed for one of the quilts in the book.
There are 3 ways to enter, some that have more weight than others! Leave a comment below telling me how you choose to tell your story through the work of your hands, and then get 5 more chances to win using the instructions at the following link to the Rafflecopter giveaway.
Thank you, to everyone, who has supported me on this journey, and it is my greatest wish that I can support you, in yours. Happy quilting!
I try to approach each project by considering its future and purpose, along with the recipient. I find that projects often tell their own stories that way, and it’s almost like I’m reading it as I go along.
This mini is gorgeous!!!
I like to tell my story with lots of love and passion – I hope it shows in my quilts!
I tell my story by dyeing yarns in colorways that I have observed in nature here in Alaska or on my travels to foreign countries.
I’m just starting to have mindfulness in my quilts beyond “ooh I like that pattern/fabric/idea”. I am so glad I found your blog and I cannot wait to see your book. Thanks!
Loved following the blog hop for your new book. It is awesome. The stories of my quilt depends on the purpose of the quilt. My current quilt is going to a young man dealing with cancer and I pray and sew in healing thought with hope that his story of life continues for many years too come.
I want every quilt I design and make to connect to something personal in my life. It’s more fun and genuine.
40+ years ago my great grandmother taught me to crochet. I taught my mother and then my daughter. I am so blessed to keep her craft going. I am also a self taught, 1st generation, quilter. Everything I have made has a story behind it. Each one holds special memories.
Love that mini quilt! It’s beautiful! I want my quilts to tell stories, but more realistically, I do it through photographs.
I try to think hard about the recipient of the quilt and how they will use it when I design and make my quilts.
I love that mini quilt and your book looks awesome!
I agree entirely—the connection made between quilters, from quilter to recipient, or even from point of inspiration to quilter to recipient is the core of why we as a people quilt. Our stories unfold, influenced by the world around us–people, places, things–and our quilts develop as our own personal stories are built. I’m excited to see what my quilts look like in 10 years, 20 years… even (hopefully) 50 years! Oh the stories they will tell! Thank you for the chance at such a precious giveaway!
I always do this–I commented on the post before clicking the rafflecopter selection, and so I wrote the entire comment before seeing the question posed. How do I tell my story? Definitely through the quilts I make, and through the patterns I design. Also, I’m a blabbermouth, so I tell my story to my kids daily, hoping they will retain a bit of it 😉 Feel free to delete a comment or discount this one, since I realize this is two. Next time I’ll click the rafflecopter button before commenting!
My quilts always have a story. I make them only because they do. Sometimes they are happy and sometimes sad but with them lots of love.
Besides crafting throughout the year (quilting, crochet, and embroidery), my daughter and I make a different Christmas craft every year and share it with family and friends. It’s such a great way for connecting with loved ones.
I tend to put everything I have into a quilt, while it may not speak to others, I remember every decision along the way right down to the hand sewn bias binding.
I like to tell my story along with my family’s in a story quilt
I start each quilt with a purpose. It might be a quilt to keep me warm during chemo, or as a present for one of my grand kids, or a special friend….or it might be a charity quilt. But most of ll I love trying new patterns and I love your book!
I try to tell my story in a quilt through the use of metaphor & wordplay when choosing a pattern or naming a quilt, often linking it to something shared with its intended recipient or our history. I like for my quilt to have “layers”, metaphorically as well as physically.
I try to tell my story through color and placement. I hope it shows!
I start with a fabric that inspires me and build a quilt for an individual with it. Sometimes I start with a block design…I found fifty small pink blocks at a flea market one time made from 1930 s shirtings. Everyone was off grain but I liked them so much that I applied them to other squares. They had all been hand pieced and I often wondered who had made them and the story behind them! I ended up quilting butterflies on them and the quilt went to a little girl who loves it!
I love to use a lot of different medias; fabric, thread painting, acrylic paint, inks, hand dyed fabric. Have loved the blog hop Mandy!
My quilt story is told through each chosen piece of fabric. Who was with me when I purchased fabric and thread or stopped into say hello while I was working on it.
Each quilt tells the story of who I am in that snapshot in time. Each quilt is filled with my emotions, musings, prayers, hopes, dreams and energy. I also write a secret on the batting of each quilt. I’ve never told anyone before. 🙂
As I look back at quilts I’ve made over 35+ years, I see my and the recipients’ stories over time. Whether conscious of it or not, my quilts almost always tell a story of the time of their creation.
Would love your book.
I tell my stories in so many different ways because I have so many different stories. Sometimes the easiest way is to just let things happen as they will and see what the result is.
I try to have my quilts tell the story of the recipients style and colors if I make for someone specific. The ones I make just to make… tell about what I am trying to learn at that point in my quilting journey. Sometimes they just tell about the colors that make me happy. 🙂
I like the freedom of creating art quilts. I like challenges of words, theme and even fabrics. I like small ….my last BIG quilt took 10 years to complete.
Each piece I make is destined as a gift to a loved one. I really focus on them and our relationship and strive to include their passions and quirks. I just have to watch their facial expressions to know if I picked the right story or not. I’m not always successful but I always try.
I tell my story by pouring all my love into every quilt I make for someone. It’s how I show I care. cdahlgren at live dot com
Love these projects. Hope I win and get to make a few quilts of my own.
I put my heart into each quilt I make. I hope that all of the quilts that I have gifted across the country and around the world will tell my story for me.
What a beautiful quilt, and it looks like a lovely book as well! I am trying to write my genealogy, and make a lot of quilts that speak from my heart instead of ones that are just being beautiful.
love so many of the quilts I the new book! Checked it out of the library but when led love my own copy!
I think that I do it more passively than aggressively – I can look back over the works my hands have created and see the story of time invested, sleep surrendered, fabrics selected, techniques learned, “ah ha” moments, and little victories won. It’s a beautiful and inspiring story to me, but wouldn’t read the same to others, I’m sure. I am fascinated and intrigued with the idea of more thoughtfully and purposefully seeking to tell a story as I make.
I find that the most amazing way I tell my story is through dollmaking. I make mostly original dolls, and they turn out in amazing ways — not always as I’d envisioned when I began, but usually in a manner that tells part of my story that I wasn’t actually aware of until I saw it.
HELLO, I LIKE TO TELL MY STORY BY SHARING WITH OTHERS MAKING BABY CHARITY QUILTS! THANKS FOR YOUR NEAT GIVEAWAY!