Quilting my way to peace

Three years ago I purchased my first quilt kit. Truthfully I didn't know what I would do with it, but the picture on the package was beautiful. I was on vacation, a cruise actually, to Alaska. One of the stops on the cruise was a town that had an amazing quilt shop. When I walked in my breath was taken away.

The walls went up two stories and hanging all over were examples of completed quilts. There were several sizes. Some looked like they could cover a king-sized bed while others looked like the perfect size for a baby's crib. I spent quite a bit of time walking around and looking closely at them. I could tell - in my amateur way - that some of the quilts had to have been "quilted" by machine. Others looked as though they might have been done by hand.

On the ground floor of the shop were tables of quilting kits and quilt making accessories. Against the walls were bins of fabrics and batting. There were quilting magazines and quilt patterns (without the kit) to purchase. I'll bet I spent nearly two hours just browsing and looking.

I got to looking around the shop and was intrigued.

I began to wonder if I could do something like that. Could I make a quilt? I had learned to do crochet from my mother but no one in my family that I knew of had done quilts. I really wasn't interested in the ones you do on a sewing machine, I was interested in a quilt I could do by hand. Maybe it was because of all my years of doing crochet, because crochet is a "doing by hand" kind of needlework. So I picked out a small quilt kit. One perfect to use as a lap quilt while watching tv. Besides I thought it would make a better souvenir of my trip than a mug!

As it happened I didn't get started on this project until a year later. Some upheavals in my life, including ill health, caused me to have to slow down. A lot. But I'm the kind of person who needs to have something for her hands to do. I do love to binge-watch my favorite tv shows and can magically watch them as I quilt or embroider.

To this point in my life the only needlework I'd ever done was crochet. In my life I've crocheted many blankets and afghans. Both my grandchildren designed blankets they had me crochet for them. My grandson's has his name in big block letters. My granddaughter's has hearts and circles all over it.

However, I had no crochet projects to do and wasn't really wanting to do more with yarn. That's when I remembered the quilt kit.

It had an iron-on applique design. But once I got it ironed on, I felt it needed something. That's when I got the idea to embroider around the applique. Wow, did that make it pop! Once that was done, and I got the thin batting and back fabric stitched in place that's when I started quilting. The fabric I'd chosen for the back of the quilt had this interesting curving, curling pattern so I decided to use that for my quilting "roadmap." I found the hours spent working my quilt to be so relaxing. And ultimately healing. And inspirational!

Doing that first quilt - I say first because I've since done another - I decided to try other needlework-related projects that would be new-to-me. One was a latch-hook rug. I chose a design of wolves - I love wolves - and thoroughly enjoyed the process. I will have to do another latch-hook rug someday. The other project was a counted cross-stitch design.

One of the joys of working on that first quilt was the sense of peace that would surround me. I discovered that to quilt, one has to slow down. You have to be present in the moment (or risk a painful jab in the finger!). With crochet, as experienced as I'd become with that medium, I'd been able to just speed right along.

Although my work involves writing and photography, I find needlework to be R&R; true rest and relaxation.