Let me set the scene-It's the end of September in the mountains of Utah. The leaves are changing and the air is brisk. I am surrounded by fellow quilt business owners and there is so much excitement. I was at the Quilterpreneur retreat put on by Elizabeth Chappell of Quilter's Candy and Liza Taylor of Liza Taylor Handmade. I had gone into the retreat with an open mind, but no quilt projects/patterns currently in the works.
At one point during the retreat, Elizabeth called a few people up to the front. The idea of the activity was that the person at the front would ask a question and get advice from everyone else. The first name called up was me! I was so nervous and I didn't have a specific question. I ended up asking "How do I find 'my people' with who like my style?" So, of course, Elizabeth's first question to me was "What is your style?" I knew my style: big, sharp lines, lots of negative space, modern, and moody. So I told them this with confidence and I got some good advice. What happened next was how this quilt came to be.
Up to that point, I knew exactly what my style was, but had never really put it out into words. I was trying to fit in with everyone else's style because they were all so successful. So once it came out of my mouth, it was out there for all my quilt friends to hear and I was suddenly okay with being me and being okay with not having the same style as many designers.
So here I was, listening to all these successful female entrepreneurs who spoke at our retreat and I was listening and trying to absorb all the info, but this quilt pattern was absolutely just FLOWING into my mind. It was like I had opened the gate to my own style and it just came to me.
I couldn't stop thinking about it the rest of the day. More pieces just came to me. As soon as we had a free second, I just knew I had to get it out of my head. I got my computer and started to mock it up in Adobe Illustrator. I had finally had it out of my head and onto something physical!
As soon as I got home, I started working immediately. I have 3 young children so my only time to work is after they go to bed at night. Each night, I would work 3-4 hours to get it finished. I just couldn't focus on anything else until I had this done. I knew I didn't want to wait until next Christmas so I had a deadline.
There was a lot of trial and error, especially with the large tree. I made probably 10 different samples in order to get it right. I tried doing it horizontal seams, I tried with a vertical seam, and I tried other versions that just weren't what I had imagined. I tried every other version because the one version I didn't want to do was one solid piece. I thought that it would be too difficult to cut and sew with how large I wanted it. But in the end, that is what worked the best and I am so happy with the result of one large tree piece. With the right size cutting mat and some good starch, it comes together really well.
From start to finish, this quilt top can easily be done in a day or weekend. I hope you like making it! It is very true to my style as a quilt pattern designer and it makes me so happy to see others make it.
