It's the Story

It started in 2017 when I wrote the story of the Colorado Quilt to give to my brother and his wife when I sent them the quilt. I knew I could tell the story, but there was no way to be able to tell all of it and expect them to remember any of it. So I created a document in Power Point, exported it to a PDF file, had it printed at Staples and sent it with the quilt.

I did it again when I gave the Goose Rocks Beach quilt to my boss. He loved the quilt, but couldn't stop looking at the story. 

In 2021 I began to write the stories for EVERY quilt I gifted, and had them printed and bound at Staples, and gave printed copies along with the quilts I gifted.

I wrote each story specifically for the recipient. If they didn't know much about quilt making, I explained some details.

In each I explained how I got the idea for a quilt, how I chose fabrics, why I chose the pattern I chose 

and how I put the quilt together.

If I changed my mind, I wrote about that too. I showed some examples of things I thought they would like to know, 

I wrote about how I knew a quilt told me where it wanted to live.

I've written stories for over two dozen quilts, and I have even gone back and written stories about quilts I gifted over ten years ago. 

I hear it all the time, "Lynne, the quilt is GORGEOUS, but. I LOVE THE STORY." Some recipients keep the story out on a table or bookcase so they can share it with guests or family.

So I don't know why I was surprised when my Mother called me the other night to tell me that I deserved an Academy Award for the story I wrote about her quilt. I had included a page for each bird in the quilt, and explained why it was appropriate for her quilt. If you read my blog, you would have seen these photos and heard the story.

The stories do two things. First, they tell the story of the quilt, Secondly, they document the quilt itself. At the end of each I have a page stating the name and size of the quilt. who made it, who quilted it and where the design came from. I also have a page of instructions for care of the quilt.

I've made almost two hundred quilts since 2009. I don't think I'm going to get stories written for all of them, but no matter.

EVERY quilt has a story, and if we don't write them down, then the story gets lost.