Aidn's Quilt : His Own Corner of the Sky

Finished Aidin's quilt a few weeks ago, but I couldn't post about it until I gave it to him.  He surprised us a few days by appearing on our doorstep!  It was such short notice, I hadn't even taken all the photos of the quilt I had planned ...  like the label, and the light rays in the border ...

Aidin wrapped up in his new quilt, with Michele (me).

So many feels working on this one.  Aidin is like my own kid.  He and my son, Oliver have know each other their whole lives.  Sometimes they even act more like brothers than friends.  Aidin is a creative kid -- a Libra, like me, and emotional at times, too.  Very different from the ultra-logical and analytical Oliver.   I always felt like Aidin was my mini-me.   If we went out to a show, there was Aidin--attending all by himself.  Not kidding -- one night we went to see Mozart's Requiem (not exactly what a kid his age would be clamoring to see) performed at a local church in a part of town we don't usually frequent.  On the way, we saw a kid on his bike also headed for the show : None other than Aidin.  A kid so hungry for the Arts that he attends some of these shows all on his own.  We invited him to sit with us, and assured his parents that we'd make sure he got home afterwards.  So this parting is hard on me, too.

Aidin moved to a town about 2 hours away in January of this year.  He's been coming back to see us, and to spend time with Oliver every 3-4 weeks, or so.  

I almost didn't want to finish this quilt--because once I do finish it, and hand it over to him, will he come back to see us?  Or will that be the end of it?

Aidin picked the colors.  He wanted blues, purples, and silver.  (I had to ask him more about the silver ...  I think we settled on grays) with a vein of turquoise running through every block.  The pattern is Sophie's Windows, made by sewing strips together and  and cutting them in a brilliantly simple technique.  No triangles were harmed in the making of this quilt.

 

The center blocks are quilted with free-form whirlwind spirals full of energy -- like a storm.   He's had kind of a stormy childhood with troubles at home.  So our house was always kind of a refuge for him -- a port in the storm.  His "Storm Home."  [See Garrison Keillor's story by the same name ...]

For weeks, I wasn't sure what to quilt into the borders ...  and then it came to me.  The borders should be more settled than the stormy center blocks.  Blue birds down the sides  --  Blue birds come out after the storm.  Doesn't Bono sing that in a U2 song?     And rays of light along the top and bottom.



"See the bird with the leaf in her mouth.
After the flood, all the colors came out.
It was a beautiful day -- Don't let it get away."  --U2

Things get better ...  just stick with it, Kid!

While I was sewing the birds and the light rays and the binding one weekend, I kept thinking of that song from Pippin : Corner of the Sky.  Seems fitting for this kid in search of his place in the world.



"Rivers belong where they can ramble
Eagles belong where they can fly
I've got to be where my Spirit can run free
Gotta find my corner of the sky."

When I was his age, I spent a lot of time at my friend Janna's house.  Her mom was a 2nd mom to me.  Their house was full of laughter, and good food, and warmth (My house had that, too, but no siblings to compete with).  Now I understand what that feels like from the 2nd Mother's side.

Secret messages written into the borders .... Sorry, I can't divulge that, or they wouldn't be secret, would they?  Saving that for Aidin alone.  ;-)

Our House Below (from Arrietty).  This was one of Aidin's favorite movies and favorite characters when he was younger.  He might not admit it now, but a 2nd Mother knows better.
Gol darnit -- even now this happy little song brings tears to my eyes, and I live there!

 The presentation : Aidin gets his quilt!

Deciphering the secret messages quilted into the borders.  

Unlike many kids his age, Aidin does know how to read cursive writing.  

 Ah!  Wrapped up in blue, calm and peaceful.

 Aidin and Oliver - like brothers.

 

If you've read this far in the post, you may want to watch the home video of Aidin getting his quilt.  This is what it's all about for a Quilter.  The Discovery aspect, the colors, the meanings--so many levels to a quilt.  And of course, the Love.  Count this under things I don't want to forget.  ;-)

And now a few closing thoughts from my old friend Glen Phillips with Renee Stahl :

You Were Meant To Be from renee stahl on Vimeo.

Sometimes we get to be guardian angels for each other.  

You were meant to be here, kid.  So glad we got to know you before you left town.

Don't forget us!  You are welcome here anytime. ;-)

Little Blue Bird : May Journal Quilt

I finished the Little Blue Bird Journal Quilt this weekend.
The blue and purple background is one of my hand-dyes; so is the pink cheesecloth. The Little Blue bird was free-motion embroidery stitched in a workshop last fall with Karla Spinks.


He's been sitting on on design wall for the past few months in this state. I wasn't quite sure how to proceed. I knew I wanted a cloud of pink for spring blossoms on the tree, but I also wanted to be able to see the sky through those blossom-laden branches. So a solid piece of fabric wouldn't work ... It took me a while to figure out I could use the cheesecloth for that purpose. So I top-stitched the pink cheesecloth onto the batting topped with the background fabric.


In this picture, I had just stitched down the branches, using a piece of quilting paper for placement of the branches. Once it's stitched on, you can easily tear away the quilt paper. For the branches, I made a machine-stitched cord out of 4 pieces of textured yarns. Lots of color in these branches (black, purple, brown and green) all twisted together.


Next, I added the little blue bird with a simple applique stitch and invisible thread. When I first made him, I had also embroidered a branch for him to grasp. That had to go, so I cut it off and let him grasp the yarn branches instead. Since the yarn branches are kind-of 3D, I had to add a little extra batting under the rest of the bird to make his head stand at an even height with the parts on top of the branches.


Next came the little flowers. These were cut off of a silk flower probably gotten at a thrift store. I had pulled the flowers off months ago, and tried to dye them. But they must be synthetic, as they would not take the color. They are not stark white, they took the slightest hint of color. For the centers, I added gold and pink beads. Some of the flowers were folded over or crushed, so I let them stay that way.


Detail of Blue Bird and Flowers.


Here it is trimmed to size and squared up awaiting the backing. [It is square : The design wall is tilted, so it looks a little wonky.] For the journal quilts, I usually do a simple envelope binding.


This is the stitching from the front through the batting layer.


The final step was to add a twisted yarn as a border (which you can see in the photo at the top of this post). It just needed a little something else to finish it off properly.