Author: jennifer

A few years ago my sister made me this amazing improv quilt block that says, “be brave.”  I have a really bad habit of saving things that are special instead of just using them.  I always tell myself I’ll find the most amazing, perfect use for it and THEN I will use it.  Unfortunately, I did that with this quilt block.  It went in a box with a few pieces of fabric for the quilt I thought I would make.

Except I forgot all about it.
I rediscovered the block a few weeks ago and immediately made this Be Brave Mini Quilt.


At least I learn from my mistakes!  It only took a few minutes for me to quilt it with straight lines approximately 1/4″ apart.


After quilting I remembered a jar of labels that same sister gave me, and in it I found the “you matter to me” label.  The bright red message fit perfectly at the bottom of the mini quilt.  I chose a bright print from my stash for the back and added tabs for hanging.  A leftover piece of binding completed the project – perhaps the fastest finish of anything I’ve ever made!


I made this be brave mini quilt as a gift for one of my daughters.  2019 has been a big year in our home and brought many opportunities to be brave.  Sometimes we rise to them and sometimes we forget who we are and what we can do.  I gave this to her because I want her to know that she can be brave, and that she matters to me.  I hope this visual reminder will bless her life and help her in moments when she’s tempted to believe otherwise.


We all need this reminder sometimes.  I’m sharing it now because today we’re doing something brave as a family.  We’re sending our son away for two years of missionary service.  It’s the happiest, best thing and will help him become the man he needs to be, but it also hurts and our hearts ache with love and missing him already.  He matters to us; we matter to him.  So we’re being brave because we love God and know that EVERYONE matters to Him.


If you need this reminder today, let me say it again:  Be Brave.  You matter.

Early this year I started a new applique project, Raspberry Applique, a monthly block of the month pattern available at Raspberry Spool .  Crystal created each block based on different flowers and bushes indigenous to Australia.  I wanted to use applique in a new way, or with a new style, so this was a great fit.


I purchased the pattern and stalled instead of starting.  Unable to decide on fabrics, I fell behind for several months.  Then one day I was looking through my Amy Butler fabrics, thinking sadly of her retirement from fabric design, when the idea to use her fabrics in this project struck me.


This quilt is an education in layering prints and designs in a bold and busy way.  I would like to get really good at it, and I deliberated carefully over my fabric choices for each block.  Some turned out perfect; others I would change.

But I’m learning.
I like to have a new goal with each quilt I make, and using busy prints together successfully is my goal with this quilt.


Some blocks have great contrast while others blend together; I tried to balance all of this both in my blocks and in the layout.


After completing all nine blocks I decided that there will be no solids in this quilt, and the only white will come in the prints I use.  I want a bright, lavish quilt.


To accomplish my goal I used Kaffe polka dots in a different color for sashing around each block.  Knowing the friendship between Amy and Kaffe, and how his designs influenced her artwork, it felt appropriate to introduce the dots.  It also helps add more color and whimsy to the quilt.


This is where the raspberry applique pattern ends and my own design will begin.  I will turn this project on point and design four large corner pieces to frame the applique blocks.  It’s going to be big and bold and gorgeous, even though I have no idea yet what I’ll do!  I’m excited to explore the unfolding of this quilt in coming months.


For now, life’s a little crazy and I need a guest room – so no space for chaotic sewing and fabric everywhere.  It will have to wait, but it does beckon me every time I walk past…

This is a design project I can’t wait to get back to!