The Quilt: Home in Midwest

 {selfie}

When you scroll your way down, were you thinking what I am thinking? I hope you do! It is a quilt that is so painful to make! By painful, I mean a good one; I ripped all the pieces apart when I was 1/3 way through the piecing then re-pieced, trimmed every squares, matched most of the seams, but still have a few oops! Quilted it on my little Patchwork Edition Bernina and kept thinking when this is going to end?! {as my right hand wrist was bothering me for a few weeks by then}. But after all these steps, I must tell you that this quilt has all my loves for almost 20 years living in Midwest, friendships that made and much much more!

It possible was from this {post} I wrote back in 2011 when we just moved to North Dakota. We had no friends, no connections to anyone locally, and everything started from scratch for us again! We were quiet brave then!  It was scary and lonesome! I was more active in writing and more expressive about what I was that time! That first winter in N.D. was terrible hard and extremely long and not to mention fridge cold weather! We experienced what it felt like 40 below with the negative 40 windchill and we also encountered so many unexpected events! Oh, it seemed never ended at time and I never though I made it through my three-year master program study!

After a week or two posting, I've got an unfamiliar addressed package in our little metal mail box! The first thing, S said, did you buy more fabrics? I did't think I did! So, who's address is this? Do I know this address? Did I order any fabric, maybe? I opened the package and found a beautiful layer cake fabric and with a very kind note from Monica aka {mountainofthedragon}. Monica was the very first few Etsy stores that I purchased fabrics from when I just discovered online fabric shops. I actually had no idea that she was reading the blog! Within the note, Monica wrote she was feeling sad that I was being homesick and feeling sad. She wanted to cheer me up, so sent me a care package!  Then there were many just because care packages came to us! From time to time, I still ask; why me?

I reread that note so many times and treasure the package for years. It moved with me to many places and was waiting for a right quilt pattern for it and really just waited the time to come! That took me four years to turn it into a quilt that I believe will sit in my heart for years to come! Not just the kindness friendship that Monica extended to me, but also the heartfelt feeling that till this day I still hold on tightly; Generosity!

Last year, when we moved in our new home, I have had the plan to make a quilt as a housewarming quilt to ourselves! However, with what I was going through it was impossible to even think about sewing and great things around us. I think it is just kinda that way sometimes! It is hard to remind myself the cheerleaders out there for me and hard to tell myself it will get better?! There are quiet a bit of struggles and it took long time to sort it out!

This quilt is not my designed quilt pattern, it is fully inspired by a Japanese magazine that I subscribed last year. As reading through the magazine, the pattern for making the house quilt came and soon I knew it would be perfect to use Retro pop layer cake as the starter quilt colors. I plan this quilt  will be a family quilt, so BIG is the idea of the quilt size. The quilt math for the quilt top took a bit longer, cutting the layer up was scary, adding more prints to the quilt top pile was alike shopping through the stash once more time.

Somehow I stopped again...

It took another month or longer to restart working on this quilt. All the sewing seams were ripped off because I wasn't satisfied how it turn.  This involved trimming job ahead, pressing seams open in proper way. Yet, I wasn't in a hurry at all; no time framing for completing this quilt, but truly enjoy he making process!

The repeating of stop and start making this quilt was over a year. Sometimes, I made a few blocks a day and sometimes was hard to push forward to make another sewing day count. The week before we took off for the summer family visit, I was quiet ready to finish it! The entire week, I was absorbed with thread, fabric, and sewing! Maybe a bit time space out for self!  I was sewing most part of the day and it felt really great and accomplished!

The finished quilt top was waiting for the backing.  It took another few months because I was hoping to give it a name and the name would be still my heart for time to come. {Home in Midwest} somehow pops in my head and I think it is quiet perfect for it! It is labelled in 2014 because I wanted to remember the year we first have a real place to called Home! After almost 20 years in the states and moved to many places. I have sat my heart in the Midwest and that also included friendships extended to us here at quarter inch mark.

I never have though I'd make any friends from this blog and never though this place gets any people to follow up! It started out with a though of a place that I can record part of our life adventure and my works. I know eventually it will come to an end as we all move on in different directions and life goes on and on!

This blog allows me to met so many wonderful people! They are in my heart even though I haven't get the chance to meet them in real part of life.  Since we moved quiet often, it is harder to keep in touch with friends that met in the city/town we lived. I've always feel like a passenger passing from places to places and from town to town; never have a ground that could hold on tight to. But I thankful that can bring quarter inch mark with me whenever and where ever I go on {smile}!

When I was much younger, I always wondered about how our life would take us to. I always tried really hard to adopted and fitted in all things around us and tried to be very energetic about every little events, but it was hard, unreal and unhappy! After years to come and all, I discovered being the most authentic self is the honest way to live and be.

It is really hard to say {Thank You} in the way that I would like it "sounded" here! But {Thank You} for all your unconditional loves of friendships, readerships and endless coming back! I do read all your comments with a big {smile} on and reply in my head {So sweet of you} { Wow! You think the same!} { These emojis are so cute!} { How far do you live?} {This is kind!} {Why?} and much more. I hope you do and know that you are not just encouraging, but meaningful!


xxc

p.s. The package has finally arrived!