Measure Your Life in Love
I spent some time in January and February reflecting on my goals for the coming year. During this same time, I meet with a customer and agreed to create a T-shirt quilt for her daughter's birthday in March. My design process involves spending time with the t-shirts and letting them tell me the type of quilt they want to live in. Ok, that does sound a bit too "new agey" and I'm not really a New Age kind of person. Nonetheless, I did find myself inspired by the variety of interests and talents this young women experienced and expressed in her young life.
Inspiration
It was a T-shirt from the play "Rent" that spoke the loudest. The quote on the back read,
"Measure your life in love."
This became the theme for the T-shirt quilt. I paired it with another item in her collection of memories, her baby blanket.
No Going Back
I am, admittedly, a very sentimental person. The thought of cutting into her baby blanket was terrifying to me. Afterall, once done, there was no going back. I didn't want her to regret not having her baby blanket should she decide to have children of her own one day. Ok, I'm REALLY sentimental about things like that. I do understand that not everyone else is. Besides, her sentimentality is likely expressed in other ways, like seeing it in her quilt every day. It wasn't for me to decide. It is her quilt. I did, however, double check. It was ok to proceed.
The Good Life
When combined with the Rent quote and her name fromthe back of a basketball jersey, this became the central anchor for the quiltdesign. Suddenly all the other memories and images of a wonderful young lifefell into place. Not that there weren't challenges in getting everything from ababy onesie to a baseball cap to work together. The odd math alone kept me onmy toes.
I'm very pleased with the result and hope that it brings joy to my client for many years to come. And, that she continues to live her life in LOVE.
I can't post pictures just yet. It's a surprise birthday present for later this month. I'm completing the final touches this week. So, until the next time…