thoughts

I like to multitask when I quilt - during classes at school, listening to books/music, or watching something online. I finally finished watching Doctor Who, so I'm kind of at a loss with what to do with myself while I quilt. Batman Begins will have to do for today.

Not that I have any readers yet (or will ever), but I thought it might be nice to share some photos of the stages of my quilt and the inspiration I had for making it.




This photo is my childhood quilt, nicknamed "Quilty" who I slept with almost every night until I was 12 (when she started to really fall apart).



This is my vary glorious workspace, which is, in reality, a part of my mom's desk that I commandeered and moved across the room. Everything looks quite neat because we had a cleaner come in earlier in the day (it's usually a massive pile of scraps, fabric, and a sewing machine hidden somewhere underneath).


And here is what I'm making:

Yup, hexagons. Hundreds and hundreds of little hexagons that I sew by hand into little hexagon flowers that turn out to be about the size of my hand. I have about 40 of them so far - aiming for 120ish for my quilt.

and so it begins

I meant to start this blog months ago when I first began my quilt, but it got pushed to the side for some reason - probably schoolwork. The blog was going to be my way of documenting my finial semester of my senior year in high school, but with only 13 school days left, I think it's going to tell the story of my summer instead.

I started my quilt fairly randomly. It was a Wednesday or Thursday night, I was avoiding doing my homework, and I had found a tutorial for making hexagons online (via stumbleupon). I've always bought fabric with the intention of making something great (which inevitably never got finished), so I found myself with all of these fabrics I had collected over 12 years and the perfect project.

I guess you could also say that making this quilt has been a form of therapy - sewing myself back together piece by piece. The past few years had been so filled with depression and anxiety and circumstances I couldn't control; I had been so close to finally being okay when everything I had worked for shattered. My dad and I had a huge fight that was taken to court, me living with my mom full-time, not seeing my dad or his family at all, and the return of my anxiety and depression in crippling proportions.

As soon as I started cutting and sewing the pieces together I began to feel more at peace, like I finally had something that was just for me, no one else. And it helped. I've gone down on my medications and I've felt the happiest I have in years, all because of a quilt. This may be my first quilt, but it certainly won't be my last.

I didn't mean for this quilt to take so long, or be such a huge part of my life, but it is. So here I am, quilting myself back together, piece by piece.