The First two Songs

Good Morning. I am so happy to say that I have begun work on the quilt! At first I felt daunted; I kept thinking about all of the small pieces that had to come together to make a whole and I was getting bogged down by the big picture. I spent lots of time looking at various quilt patterns, and finally decided to re-invent the wheel, yet again. Those of you who know me know that I struggle with following patterns of any kind: when cooking, I think, "Wouldn't this soup taste amazing with a little ground mustard?" When knitting I think, "I love the drape of this sweater, but wouldn't it be great with a shawl collar instead of a turtleneck?" And on and on and on.... So right out of the gate for this project I decided that I needed to just get started on the sewing and worry about the big picture later. I hope that you quilters aren't cringing too much. Well, it's my first quilt, and therefore a learning project for me. I think I learn more when I have to do it from scratch than if I follow a pattern anyhow. Hopefully it won't be too horrible for the recipient!

I thought about the project that this quilt is for: Kids that have experienced trauma or who are hospitalized with an illness. I wanted the quilt to have a sunny disposition while also be soothing. I wanted the pieces to be large enough that the child could spend a long time looking at it, too, in case they needed a distraction. And I really wanted to incoporate a circular shape because in a circle, no matter what, there is always something right side up. So I made a pattern and started cutting. As I was putting pieces together I thought, "This is a lot like making a mixed tape!" When making a mixed tape, I might have a general idea of the theme, or mood, but I would start with one song, and then find another song that I thought either carried the mood or transitioned to a new mood smoothly. Just like putting pieces of a quilt together, right? So here are my two circles: one in a red, and one in a blue. I will sew the circles onto squares and then put the squares together to make the blanket. I have no idea what color the squares will be; I haven't gotten to that part of the tape yet.