This is my thing, this quilt with scrappy beginnings of blocks with baskets, and dreaming up settings and just seeing what would happen next. I love this so much more than following a pattern to the letter, using one fabric line and one color way, matchy-matchy...I just love the craziness and joy of just creating whatever comes. I may never win a big quilt show, or become a famous quilter of any sort, but I do love this so much!! The big thing too, is that I feel like I created something from nothing, you know? Little pieces of fabric, that would have probably hit the trash can in another house, are treasures to me!!
ON the other hand, I love patterns, and buy them when I can...but rarely follow them exactly. I love that someone took the time to put their ideas into a solid form, and honor that.
Thank you to everyone who followed this quilt, and cheered me on!! You are such fun!!!
***********************Nurse's notes***************************
I saw true love this week at the hospital. It made my eyes just well up!! Here is the story...
I received a patient from surgery, a total right lung removal due to cancer. The patient was bald, just having gone through chemo and radiation to her brain for metastasis from her lung cancer. Four tumors in her brain. She had huge sores and blisters on her forehead from the massive radiation...with pus and yucky all over. She was incoherent and just out of it from surgery. Then...into the room came the most massively huge man ever! Her husband, he took her scarred forehead and kissed her so tenderly...covered her so gently...loved her so well. He sat quietly by her side, advocating for her...loving her. I guess you just had to be there, but it was just so wonderful to see. 41 years of marriage...married when they were just teenagers. I loved taking care of this couple! The patient woke up, and was just the most sweet, kind dear lady ever. In her pain and stress, she always asked how I was; how her family was. Just a darling!!
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Have a great day, everyone!!
Julie
37 comments:
I follow your blog all the time. I loved your scrappiness!
Cindy
What beautiful, scrappy fun! I love the "let's just see what happens" process, and it worked wonderfully here!
That is a very tender story, Julie!
Crazy brilliant, Julie! I love this too! Truly original and gorgeous!
You win in so many ways...enjoying the love and companionship of the adorable "quilt inspector", following your heart and creative impulses in your wonderful quilts, and helping people patch together their broken bodies and hearts...You ROCK my friend!
Oh...and the quilt is beautiful (as always!)
How fun it would be to study all those pieces of fabric and see the colors and designs.
Another gorgeous quilt! I love reading your notes .... it truly shows what a wonderful and compassionate person you are.
What a fun quilt top! I agree with your quilt making thoughts. I almost never follow a pattern all the way. I just the parts I like, then change it up to suit me. I also seldom buy more than one or two fabrics from a line. I buy what I like, then leave the rest for others. What a great 'love story'.
This story just reminds me to count my blessing everyday. This man has had to watch her suffering for a long time and we all know it is harder to watch someone you love suffer than to suffer yourself. Bless them on this terminal journey.
Love your cheery baskets quilt.......I have to go cry now
Happy Sewing
Such happiness is quilter amongst her scraps!!
I love your quilting philosophy - and I love this quilt!
Nothing in life is perfect and matchy-matchy, which is why I love scrappy quilts so much, and which is why the story of the loving couple are so compelling. Life (and quilting, too) is made up of small snippets of love and pain: we can either dwell on the pain and be miserable or dwell on the love and be happy and content with our circumstances. After 41 years, the man and his wife clearly know the pain of life, but have chosen to focus on the happiness that each day brings. God Bless them!
Your quilt is truly lovely and so fun looking! I adore all the scrappiness and completely agree with you about making something from 'nothing'. Kudo's to you for going your own way and making something so wonderful!
I'd say you win all around -- with Rosie, with your patients and definitely with your quilts! Love the scrappiness of this one!
I would have thought there was enough scrappiness just in the blocks, but the scrappy sashing in between just makes it! I would of never thought to do that and I just love it. Great job!
I love seeing your creations! I need to get busy with all my scraps!
I also enjoy your stories about the people you come in contact with at work. I work in medical records at a short term/long term health care facility. It is so hard to not fall in love with them! Some of the stories that could be told.
What a beautiful story, and how sensitive and observant of you to notice. Love like that - isn't that what we all want? sigh ~
OK, your quilt. I totally agree, making something from scraps is SO rewarding, and just plain fun. Your quilt is stunning, and its been so fun watching you make it. I can't believe how fast it came together.
Scrappy is as scrappy does....make a beauty of a quilt. Thank you for sharing the love story - reminding us the vow 'in sickness and in health' and reinforcing the notion that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
What a wonderful Scrappy Quilt. Thanks so much for sharing the story with us. It's wonderful. We've been married 47 years and dated for 3. We were 16 and 17.
Beautiful, beautiful quilt! I am a sucker for scrappy quilts! That one is a particular beauty. And what a cutie-pie dog! My Quilt Inspector is Tigger the cat, who I inherited from my mom, when mom forgot that Tigger was hers and kept trying to give him away. He sits on my lap when I am sewing on bindings and gives me the stink-eye when I have to dislodge him to turn the quilt.
My sister has been a nurse 20 or 25 years (she looks like a teenager so I can't keep track) and works in recovery. She married her childhood sweetheart when they were 17 & 18 and they are still going strong 45 years later. Love your nurse stories - so inspirational!
Loved your post today...wonderful philosophy's of life. Thanks.
Your pooch is happy to have such a wonderful owner!!
That quilt looks really fantastic! And yes, it feels great to create something so cool looking!!
Love your hospital stories:)
I am so glad you had so much fun with this quilt top. It is really so colorful with all those little loved pieces!! The setting made it even more fun--wouldn't have thought of that myself. It is so sad that someone left a puppy by themselves--but glad she has you now. It is so interesting to read your stories from the nurses viewpoint. Usually, you hear about the nurse from the patient
I'm so with ya on the scrappy whatever-happens type quilting! I love this quilt....it turned out so beautiful! Scrappy perfection! :O) And what a lovely story of your patients......I hope she recovers well, and they have many more years together.
That is one awesome quilt!!!
This is awesome scrappiness :)
Love this :)
I always look forward to your nurse notes. Thank you for sharing them. I adore this quilt too!
Your scrappy quilts always make me smile. I just love the traditional look of what I like to call controlled scrappy, where even though made of lots of little scraps of many different lines of fabric, they come together to create something beautiful.
I also enjoy your stories from your work. They are a refreshing drink to a soul thirsty for some indication of the goodness in mankind. Thank you so much for sharing.
The basket quilt turned out beautifully. The narrow black sashings really set it off nicely. Your quilting philosophy closely matches mine. --and the thing of it is, working with scraps, one seldom runs out of fabric! :-)
Thanks for sharing that wonderful quilt and your scrappy philosophy! Many of us can relate to that!
The story of your lovely patient and her husband...words can't express!How heartbreakingly sad and bittersweet! I still wonder why it is that the nicest people seem to be the ones afflicted with some really nasty cancers. God bless you and all us nurses that care for them and of course the loving couple too!
I love your scrappy quilt and also love that you make things your own. Who wants to have the same quilt as a zillion other people? It's nice to give them a twist.
Absolutely love the story of your patient and her wonderful husband. Brought tears to my eyes too!
What scrappy fun!
I love your quilt! I love the scrappiness of it!
Your quilt is amazing.
I think this is absolutely your best work ever! It is awesome and I love it's scrappy goodness! You are just so talented!
Nice quilt.
Especially like the story.
L-O-V-E this quilt!! Oh My...TONS of pieces!!
I.LIKE.
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