Dawn is my daughter-in-law....married to Jarrad.....who is currently going thru chemo for lymphoma. A couple of weeks ago my quilting friend, Valerie, gave me a panel of sayings that were all cancer related. I was trying to think of how I could best use the panel, as I loved the sentiments written there, and then it hit me.
Dawn! She has been so supportive of Jarrad while he is going thru his cancer treatments. And I know she loves words of encouragement. AND, I finally realized I had made several quilts for her boys and Jarrad had several quilts that I have made for him over the years. But Dawn had none! Horrors! giggle......well, that had to be rectified. Immediately.
I began pulling out fabrics in pinks and lime and all manner of bright colors, playing with them as I went along until I came up with a pleasing cacophony of wild pattern and color combinations.
This was the "title" of the panel. I cut strips from the various fabrics in the width of the panel's sayings. That made it super easy to determine how wide to make them. Then, as I sewed the sayings into the various fabrics, I staggered them so they would be sprinkled all over the quilt.
See? It was fun to play with the crazy patterns and colors and begin to sew them together in a pleasing display.
When all the strips were sewn together I added a wide border on 2 sides to make the quilt large enough to lay under and cover up with while watching tv. I was more concerned with making the quilt long enough as Dawn is almost 6' tall.
Once the quilt top was the width I wanted, I layered it with batting behind it and a colorful backing fabric that matched the wide borders. To quilt the three layers together, I simply stitched over each seam line with a wavy stitch that is built into my machine. Can you see the lime thread stitching?
I did this quilt a little different from other quilts I've made as the sayings are "sideways" on this quilt. They run up and down the long way of the quilt. I just thought it was more interesting that way. No one can accuse me of being afraid of mixing color and pattern, that's for sure! Ha!
On the center back of the quilt I used pink on pink dotted fabric to break up the wild fabric that matched the wide borders on the front. Then, I embroidered a label for Dawn. It's hard to read in the pic, but it says,"Feb. 2015 For my faithful and supportive daughter-in-law. All my love, Debbie"
Cancer doesn't just affect the person with the diagnosis. It affects every member of their family. And most especially their spouse and children. Dawn has been doing a remarkable job taking care of Jarrad all the while she is maintaining her normal routine with the house and two kids.
And she is staying upbeat and supportive. That's a lot. And I appreciate how much she loves my son.
This quilt was long overdue. Now Dawn has something "girly", just for her, in a house filled with testosterone! ha! I hope Dawn enjoys snuggling under this quilt as much as I enjoyed making it for her.
Debbie
