Small Quilts - The Beginning

I have a record of making a number of small quilts for memories and prayers.  The first group fit into a monthly practice I did for about 18 months in 2005-2006.  I was fascinated by using quilts for journaling about my life.  There was a strong movement of quilt artists who were doing journal quilts and displaying them at a national conference.  My friend Francie was involved with the international community of quilt artists who were making journal quilts and getting recognition in the wider quilting community.  With Francie's encouragement and an on-line class, I set out on a journey to make my own series.  I had been using quilts to express some of my grief following the death of my daughter in 2002 and loved the idea of continuing the practice of using the quilted medium to mark the passage of time and of the sometimes overwhelming feelings, dreams and memories that filled my life at times.

I have come to believe that I need to document some of the work I did during this period and following that time as an inspiration to my own creative process (I want to do more) and to others who may be interested.

The quilts I will post and describe are not posted in any particular order and I am very sorry that I do not have a complete record of when I completed each one.  I will do my best to recreate that process. It is a lesson in "always label your quilts."  That is something I do now no matter how insignificant I believe the piece is.

This is one of my gratitude quilts.  I created it after we had to take an old apple tree down to build our garage.  The tree provided a little fruit, mostly for birds, shade for the pets, a haven for all the insects, privacy for us.  I said farewell and thanks after shedding tears while I was watching it be ripped from the ground.   The words "farewell" and "thanks" are created in the style of prayer flags, a medium I love.  It needed to go but it also needed to be honored and this small quilt does that.  The piece itself is about 10 inches square.