Creativebug Our August Daily Practice, Love Letter Quilt Top with Heidi Parkes, inspired and led us through quilting for someone we loved. As a community we stitched, block by block, and made quilts inspired by someone special. On social media the Creativebug community shared their stories and their quilts. Here are a few of them…
Posted by @jpearl05 on Instagram
“I made this quilt for myself. It pays tribute to the things I love- vintage textiles from thrift, my own hand embroidery and orphan quilt blocks from previous projects. I love that Heidi’s prompts gave me inspiration to imagine these treasures in a different way.”
Posted by @erikoknits on Instagram
“My love letter quilt is made for my dearest friend Chris, who passed away in August 2021. We wrote letters and emails each other for 23 years, I was very sad when I realized that I wouldn’t write to her anymore. This quilt along gave me such a lovely time. Every morning, I checked Heidi’s new quilt block theme and thought about Chris. It was sewing but felt like I was talking to her and writing a letter to her. Making blocks reminded me how much fun we had and how wonderful our friendship was. The quilt along community was great too, so inspiring to see other participants works.”
Posted by @missfatbird on Instagram
“My love letter quilt was inspired by my cat Maggie who passed away in May. The process of slow stitching a quilt with various thoughtful prompts was such a lovely way to process my grief. I used a throne to indicate that she was queen of our home, you will also see her favourite things like cat grass, treats and the fireplace. Some of the blocks are from pictures I traced and embroidered of her in her classic poses. The quilt will likely hang on the wall so I assembled with little quilting, I put little crosses along the borders of the blocks and a hidden stitch in the middle of each block. Thanks to Heidi for the wonderful prompts and explanations. I will being doing this quilt again, I am sure of it.”
Posted by @eclair57 on Instagram
“Like Heidi, I made my quilt for myself. I had wanted to make a quilt on self care and this seemed the perfect opportunity. The quilt includes the names of my 4 great grandmothers, 2 grandmothers and mother, who is also a textile artist and who contributed some free form embroidery. I have mended patches from an old sweat shirt, fabric scraps such as kimono silk, embroidery of my chair and I added my own improvisations as well as Heidi’s prompts. The colour palette of red pink and white reflects associations with love, also the Swiss flag and first aid cross which have personal significance. I have just retired from working as an art therapist, and this in itself was about prioritising my own needs after a wonderful career caring for others.”
Posted by @mlevacy on Instagram
“The creation of my love letter quilt was an act of mourning – a way to deal with the grief of losing the second of my two cats only a month earlier. My heartache and love for my beloved cats was translated into each quilt block, guided by Heidi’s thoughtful daily prompts. Each day I was able to do something meaningful and tangible to process my grief. I enlisted the aid of my 10 year old daughter who drew a picture of the cats for me to translate with thread. I used pieces of a special cat blanket, a toy, and even depicted their favorite treats. The entire process was very cathartic. Thanks to the Love Letters class, I have learned that I am more capable of exploring my emotions when I am engaged in the act of quilting, appliqué, and embroidery.”
Posted by @sdcushing on Instagram
“I have taken every class on Creativebug that Heidi Parkes has taught. So when she proposed her #LoveLetterQAL, I was ready. I made a whimsy filled gift for my black cat, aka #LokiTheKat, who believes it is his perfect right to sit on every quilt I have ever made. Finally, he has his own. It includes many of Heidi’s prompts: his name, his favorite bird toy, my hand (pat, pat, pat), his birthdate and age in hatchet marks (5 with space to add more years), a great trait (cuddly) done in couching, his favorite times of day (breakfast and dinner) represented in kibble embroidery, a skill (bug squishing), his love language written out in backstitch (purrrr) many meditative stitches, and a wish for him (which remains a secret). Stepping a bit off grid, I also added some fabric I found that represents him (and the plants he loves) just exactly and peppered it throughout. That fabric will also serve as the backing when I get him to stop sitting on the quilt front.”
Posted by @cosymakes on Instagram
“This is my first quilt ever and it is an act of self-love and self-exploration through a new to me medium. I am not a very sentimental person so the title of this class might not have appealed to me, and yet Heidi’s style and way of thinking provided me with a rich canvas to go my own way and do my own thing while thinking about her prompts.”
It’s never too late to start a Daily Practice. If you want to start making a Love Letter Quilt top you can start with Heidi here.
Posted by @nested_seams_studio on Instagram
“I’ve come to understand love begins with self love. With this in mind I decided to create a love letter to me! My love letter exploration allowed me to really look inward with my thoughts, feelings and translate that into twenty fabric blocks. I can honestly say it was a fantastic journey!”
Posted by @no.2_cheapsister on Instagram
“My first step in this 30 day daily practice was to dedicate this quilt to someone and I picked myself! I thought about my favorite colors (green and pink) and patterns (gingham and dots) and motifs (strawberries; beach; suns, moons and stars) and people who I love. For me, the process of thinking and stitching, remaking, and finally laying even more thoughtful stitching and color over the piece produced some of the most personal work that I have ever created. Heidi’s Love Letter Quilt class helped me approach creating by building on my existing skills while introducing new processes to me in an educational and FUN way. I started quilting about 18 years ago after moving from Colorado to NYC. So much has changed in the world, me and the city since I got here, and this quilt represents me and many of my most meaningful moments. I want to do more work with this sort of inspired thoughtfulness.”