Carolyn's Granddaughter is going to get a Story Quilt for 8th grade Graduation!

As many of you know we spend the first couple of days setting a color palette for our story quilts. We use hoochy techniques (hoochy is a verb) and we take traditional blocks and make them free and easy and fun and add in Flower Power blocks from my book and think about our stories as we work. Once the blocks are complete, we sew them together with a great inner border that is a "light giver" fabric to draw your eye into the story.

Above Carolyn has taken her drawing of her Granddaughter and gotten it ready to translate into fabrics to show her hobbies. I have asked her to make her Granddaughter a little bit larger so the outside doesn't over power her (she is the STAR afterall). Well for me it is always a delight to hear what story someone decides to make in my five day workshops. Carolyna Buckingham is fabulous qith color and she started in on her quilt canvas as we all do and she based the colors on a dress of her Granddaughter's. The colors in person are fabulous and the story is quite wonderful too because this young lady is a straight A student and she does Lacrosse, she likes computers and she loves her friends and she likes music and she is just an overall terrific Granddaughter...her Grandmother is quite talented so you can see where she gets it. I love this type of quilt because both of my Grandmother's quilted and made many quilts and gee a story quilt from either of them would have been fabulous. Each person's approach to story quilts and stories area all different and wouldn't you love to own something made about YOU by your Grandmother? These quilts become history and a percious keepsake that only grows dearer with time. In 80 years what will people know about YOU from the things you sew? Are you leaving a memory of who you are, what is important to you and things that might be left that speak to what is important in life? As we grow older, we hopefully grow wiser and these quilt provide a wonderful avenue for sharing the important things that make you YOU. They are alot of fun and the sentiments and thoughts are like writing an essay. Maybe today is your day to think about what you would like to say in a story quilt. I hope so!