The quilts of 2017

2017 for my quilting was about process. It was about process in the literal context of making from start to finish, as in in steps and patterns and lessons. But it was also about processing, taking a thought or a feeling and sitting with it, letting it change and evolve into something different and special and considered. What I discovered is that the process is what excites me and keeps me quilting, and I have learned to change my quilting process to serve me as I change and grow and evolve myself. This year marked six full years of quilting, and after each one I feel the process deepen and become more meaningful.

Here are my quilts of 2017, with a few remarks. See the links in the title of each quilt to see the original posts written about them.

I had three quilts in magazines this year. One is actually a make from 2016, Measure, featured in the QuiltCon issue of Modern Patchwork.

It was an honor to see Mend in the inaugural issue of Curated Quilts.

Dap was a design challenge that became a pattern in Simply Moderne’s Fall 2017 issue.

I made three quilts that helped me to channel my feelings about the political state of the US. Women’s Work was a collaborative effort with twelve women to express sadness, comfort, conversation, and motivation. It hung in the Livingston Township Library in New Jersey and at International Quilt Festival in Houston.

Neighbors is about living in a community and engaging with its other members. It helped me to think about the kind of community I want to live in, and motivated me to organize the distribution of 300 anti-hate signs in my town. It also hung in Houston in November.

Snag is my most recent finish, which was also a collaboration, this time with long-armer Krishma Patel, as we processed fear and anxiety about our world.

I finished the Black and White Trill quilt and had the opportunity to teach the pattern and its curvy secrets to the Central Jersey MQG and the North Jersey MQG. I taught Fingerprint Improv Curves at Mid-Atlantic Mod to a super enthusiastic group of awesome students.

I am also very proud of my MQG webinar from January, Planned and Unplanned, which is available to MQG members, and I’m looking forward to doing lots of travel and teaching in 2018. The first stop will be the Berks Quilters in January, followed by QuiltCon in Pasadena, the Lancaster MQG, and the Baltimore MQG. Flounce, though a quilt from 2015, hung in the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. I hope it gets the chance to represent modern quilting in other exhibits in the coming year.

Thank you for taking this journey around the sun with me and for checking up on my work here. I hope if you celebrate a winter holiday that it is spent with people you love.

Speaking of which, Alex’s quilt was a christening gift. I’m hoping to make more quilts for the people I love in 2018.

 

Looking ahead, keep an eye open for two new patterns, one in Love Patchwork & Quilting (early 2018) and the other in Modern Patchwork (spring 2018). I also have two quilts in the show at QuiltCon, Women’s Work and Neighbors. I’m hoping to write and share a lot more about my process and how we all can shape our processes to make things that help us feel engaged and present in our lives.

Here’s to continuing the process.