Safe From The Storm

I think the worst part of my job is having to interpret other people’s work…but I also think it’s the BEST part of my job when I get it right! And as quilters/crafters/Artists….so many times we have a vision in our head of what we want to convey. Sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way we expected..it could turn out bad or it could turn out FANTASTIC!

Well Donna contacted me about this quilt. Donna owns her own long arm.  I have to say there was a deadline I wasn’t fond of….I hadn’t seen the quilt {before hand} but she had told me how much she was invested in this quilt emotionally …and she just wanted me to complete her vision…could she mail it. I hmmmd & hawed  a few times in my mind….but there was something working inside of me. I waited a few hours..and told her “Yes”….but I assured her there was no guarantee because I really didn’t want to be the person to dissappoint her and not complete her vision . She assured me that could not happen…she trusted me and I could quilt this quilt however I wanted.

I make all business decisions with my heart. I let God take the lead. He has never steered me wrong. But I have to say I have dissapointed a few along my path….{as we all have no matter what our profession} and it isn’t a good feeling being on this side..honestly. So I kind of stressed a bit until the quilt arrived.

The quilt arrived, I took it out of the box to see what I got myself into. I was amazed because I have never quilted a quilt like this before…but it immediatly spoke to me. I was unsure of one area…but I wrote an email to Donna with my first ideas..by the time I sent the email…I knew what the whole quilt would look like. She wrote a letter to me to explain how the quilt was born….I cried…then I read it again. I cried again.  I think no matter where we are in the world..the human experience is the same…and when we all come from or operate in Love, great things happen. We can be connected through and by Love and touch eachother in significant ways. 

See Donna lives in a small town of 6000 people. Her small town rallied together and built the largest shelter/civic center in Texas because they have been “the Hands and Feet of Jesus” during past years with Katrina, Rita and many other storms. People come to them when they feel they have no hope .. they show them love and light. How does a town of 6000 people come up with 6 million dollars to make this happen? One short word. GOD

So the theme for their local quilt show this year is “Safe from the storm”….and the challenge was to use the storm at sea block.

Donna chose to make waves of colors to represent the sea…..land.. The yellow bares a cross …to represent hope and the brightest light..to represt the hope when all else is gone.  I am so glad I make decisions with my heart!

So I immediatly knew I would make water type designs in the blue/violet areas….Straight lines to represent the light from the cross..wood grain designs in the cross..I wanted that quilted specifically in it’s own design…this is a surprise to Donna..but I actually quilted a small heart in the very center of the cross.     I wanted the red area to represent the “land” of organized chaos. Some very specific lines in specific areas..with a  stipple to fill the background…because there is no beginning or ending to a stipple line right? I mean its just kind of like “white noise” right? organized in specific areas but looks kind of like chaos…Then the spiral, I wanted it to effect the land and water..I wanted it to represent the destruction …to everything it touched…but have everything around it seem normal.With the blue area I wanted the water to become calmer the lower it got from the spiral…so at the blottom is a layer of {big} pebbles and a layer of seaweed. It just adds interest and fits the theme. Now the spiral..is by no means perfect..but I am going to call it “Organic” like my friend Virginia says….For the quilters who want to know the technical side of the spiral..I had to roll back and fourth every timeI got to the top and bottom to get the spiral as big as I wanted.

 I don’t believe in coincidences…I know this quilt was supposed to come to me….I know for several reasons…..but now I feel emotionally attached to this quilt and pray that it ministers to all who see it.