A friend of mine's wife was recently diagnosed with Cancer. Stay tuned to see how her story and this quilt turn out - all in one post!
She is an oncology nurse, so she sees this kind of thing every day.....only now she has to experience it first hand.
I decided to make a quilt for her, to keep her warm at the hospital during her treatments.
The quilt starts simply - rows of squares - each row with 3 squares of the same size and lots of white space around them.
I asked her husband (my friend) what he thought she would like in colors. He said he thought she would enjoy bright colors and a more modern style.
I used bright, cheery batiks.
The next step was to cut wonky squares, with plenty of white around the edges. It was helpful to have a 9.5" square and to move it around, until I got the "tilt" I wanted.
Then it was a matter of deciding the placement of the squares, being careful to balance the sizes, values and colors.
Next, sew the squares together. The smallest squares are raw edge applique.
I added sashing and border and a flimsy was born!
Now onto Millie for quilting. I chose a swirly pantograph, because I wanted to soften the straight edges and give it a definitive feminine side.
A few close-ups.
I used a black/white tiny polka dot on the back. The photo makes me a little cross-eyed to look at, but it looks good in real life.
The full quilt, hanging on the Millie frame.
So I gave the quilt to my friend (the husband) who cried when I gave it to him. He couldn't believe it. He carried it around the office and I am told showed it to everyone. He was very happy.
His wife - just as happy!
He brought back stories of how all the nurses and other patients in the treatment rooms were SO jealous!
This quilt is a happy quilt, that deserves a happy ending - don't you think?
Well, it got it's happy ending. A few months after she started, she was given a clean bill of health! YAY!!!!!!!
I like to think the quilt helped her a little. :-)
Ladybug gave her seal of approval and added an extra prayer, before it was delivered.
