Sunrise

It has been almost a year since the covid-19 pandemic began. It is simultaneously hard to imagine that it has already been a year and that is has only been a year. There are many things I have become used to: wearing a mask, seeing my friends on zoom, not leaving my house for days on end and living in less than flattering clothing. Although I have attained some semblance of a new normal, there are still times when I feel I am missing out on great moments in life. I really miss hugs! I miss potlucks. I miss my family and my friends. I miss parties. I even miss wearing matching clothes.

The transition to celebrating big occasions remotely or in parking lots (true story) isn’t easy. This quilt is a going away present for a strong leader and colleague. In lieu of our typical blowout potluck, we quietly each said goodbye over email, phone and text. This quilt is in honor of her lifelong dedication to public service and includes a swath of fabric signed by our office. The recipient is very into southwestern art, so I made a large squash blossom block from the blog Holly Gets Quilty. I chose the colors for the blossom based upon the backing fabric, which features a series of designs based on Acoma Pueblo pottery motifs. I incorporated the signed block into the back surrounded by the Acoma inspired fabric. To finish, I quilted using my walking foot in simple horizontal stripes across the entirety of the piece. I love the vibrancy of the back fabric; I used the back fabric as the binding to bring some of the amazing pattern to the front.

Since this quilt is for a strong female leader, I wanted the tunes to reflect the person, therefore my musical inspiration is all pioneering, strong female musicians. When I not so subtlety inquired about musical tastes, the receiver told me that she really enjoys Allison Krauss and Nanci Griffiths. I started with those two, although I admit that the Allison Krauss album I listened to was made with Robert Plant because, you know, Led Zeppelin. After Allison and Nanci, I listed to Marianne Faithfull, the British singer from the 1960s who influenced legions of musicians. And speaking of singers, I revisited an older Norah Jones album “Feels like Home” as home is on my mind a lot these days. The name of this quilt is “Sunrise” after the catchy, hit song on this album. I have been listening to Eilen Jewell a lot lately and I am such a huge fan of hers. We first got turned on to Eilen while living in eastern Oregon and many years later, I am still smitten. To speed things up musically, I tuned into Samantha Fish, a true badass on guitar and vocals. When I grow up I want to be like Eilen and Samantha. I also listened to one of my old favorites, Lucinda Williams. For the grand finale, I cranked up Merry Clayton. Merry is most famous for her work on the Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter”, and I really dig her solo albums.

This was a fun project to create and I’m honored that my co-workers entrusted me with it. I definitely love the Squash Blossom pattern I found online and believe that this block has a bright future in my quilting repertoire. I am a bit misty eyed that I made this truly southwestern piece as my time here in the glorious southwest dwindles. I also had a blast jamming out to all of these female artists! I listened to women such as Nanci, Allison and Marianne that are less familiar to me, and revisited some of my old favorites like Eilen, Norah and Lucinda and my new favorites Merry and Samantha.

Albums listened to: Allison Krauss & Robert Plant “Raising Sand”; Nanci Griffiths “Intersection”; Marianne Faithfull “Rich Kid Blues”; Norah Jones “Feels Like Home”; Eilen Jewell “Boundary County”; Samantha Fish “Wild Heart”; Lucinda Williams “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”; Merry Clayton “Merry Clayton”.