Choose the Quilt Project that Suits Your Season - Lavender and Twine Pillow

I started quilting over 10 years ago and I’ve been doing EPP in earnest for most of that time. My first full scale EPP quilt was Ice Cream Soda quilt and I remember imagining I wanted a soft vintage feel. I did achieve that, but I also made that quilt a single inspired block at a time. The result is a quilt full of memories and stories and years of stitching.

At the time I was living in our basement apartment before moving back to Malawi where we were missionaries for the better part of 8 years. I wasn’t working full time and in Malawi the pace of life was exponentially slower. So, I was able to give that quilt, and many after it, heaps of creative attention. I loved my sewing studio in the loft of our duplex and enjoyed countless hours lost in creative flow.

But, three years ago, we moved back to the US, and lived in a rental until last December when we finally established enough financial stability to purchase our second home. (My in laws were living in our first home until we bought the new one so we could all move in together.)

Those three years have been something of a creative drought for me. Sure, I’ve made quilts and caught glimpses of creative vision, but nothing like I used to experience in my little studio in Africa. I’ve thought a lot about this, and while I’m feeling more settled as the months go by, my current studio is still packed sky high with bins that need to be unpacked. I’ve managed to unpack most of the common areas of the house, but in February my "aunt” moved in on hospice care. We thought she’d only live a few days based on her hospital course, and we wanted to give her a gentle place to spend her final moments. Well, it’s been 4 months since then, and she’s up and walking around with a walker independently, and helping me cook dinner! It’s been a miraculously wild ride, and I’m so grateful for it.

Needless to say, unpacking hasn’t been my priority these past four months. Between co-authoring the book with Jodi, caring for my aunt and trying to settle in to our new home, creativity as I once knew it has remained elusive.

But, as Jodi and I worked towards launching Lavender and Twine quilt, spring flowers began to emerge all over my new neighborhood. Every shade of pink and coral, burgundy and green erupted around me, and I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by it after the long winter of chaos and adjustment.

And just like spring shows us, what once seemed dead sprouts up beautifully with a little bit of sunshine and warmth. I knew I didn’t have it in me to make an entire Lavender and Twine quilt, but I just couldn’t get those beautiful spring colors out of my mind.

So after a little play with color and project scale, I decided on this sweet pillow! It’s big enough to get a taste of the pattern but small enough to not give way to overwhelm.

(To make your own Lavender and Twine pillow, all you need is one whole block plus the 4 corner blocks. Turn it into a 20” pillow/cushion using Jodi’s tutorial here!)

I’ve realized over the past few years that quilts with a limited palette and preassigned color placement are much, much more achievable in this season. They don’t carry as much story with them as the years long scrappy quilts I’ve made do, but they are lovely, create order, and keep me stitching. Things I’m very grateful for in this season.