This quilt started as play - choosing fabrics in my favorite color and enjoying the process of hand piecing. When completed, I took the top to a workshop on playing with hand quilting; and I began to explore a more intuitive type of quilting than I had tried before, letting each stitch determine the next. But then it sat untouched as I struggled with a long mental health concern. I lost my desire to engage in any kind of play in my quilting. I forgot about enjoying the process, the joy of transforming a thought or idea into a physical object, the celebration of making. Upon returning to this quilt after multiple years, I feel as if I’ve returned to a place of enjoyment in my making - a place where I recognize the joy I had in sewing these fabrics together. And I can once again take joy in this quilt.
