Bloggers' Quilt Festival

Today begins the Bloggers' Quilt Festival sponsored by Amy's Creative Side. I'm excited to participate for the first time and would like to share my Supernova quilt.

I made this quilt "quilting along" with Lee of Freshly Pieced. When the quilt along was announced, I was on my way to Hawaii for my niece's wedding. I was mulling over if I could manage to participate and if so, what fabric I would use. Then it dawned on me that it would be great fun to combine the quilt along and my vacation, by visiting some quilt shops in Hawaii and purchasing my fabric there!

I confess that while I was in Hawaii (near paradise!) for a wonderful occassion (a wedding!), my time there was bittersweet. While we were away, my step-dad  back at home was put on hospice care. Shopping and planning for the Supernova was a pleasant distraction from life's realities. Hubby was a real encouragement, caught the vision, and helped me put together a fun stack of fabric. As we gathered our stash, we looked for blues and greens and teals to remember the beautiful waves that soothed us; some golds for the sun that warmed us; some black for the lava rock seen all over The Big Island; and then we surrounded all that with KONA Sand. 

I got home just in time to plan my layout and start cutting! Lee's instructions were so helpful in planning my blocks, and before long, I had all my block fabrics ready to go.

This quilt is special to me for several reasons - that hubby and I planned it together, that it was a comfort to me when I was able to sneak snatches of time to work on it during a very emotional family time, and because every step of this project was like an "ah-ha" moment! I mentioned in an earlier post that there was "drama at every turn", and that was seriously so. 

What I learned during the Supernova process was not to scrimp. If there's any disappointment in my final project, it's that I threw the back together rather than take the time to do what I really wanted - put an extra supernova block there or something more creative (love what some of the others did!). But time was of the essence if I wanted to get it done on time. 

All in all, this was one of the most rewarding quilts I've worked on in some time. Every step of the process (except basting - I dread that every time!) was a pleasure. And it will always be a reminder that joy and heartache walk together. Maybe because of my intense sadness while I worked on this project, the enjoyment was increased; I don't know. But I do know that I treasure this quilt and the journey that brought it to be.

Additional notes about this quilt ~ Batting is Warm and White Cotton Batting; I machine-quilted it on my Brother Innov-is QC-1000, with a wavy stitch; Binding is Hoffman ‘Sea Grass’; Finished size is 62" square.