In celebration

After making the quilt for my PhD advisor, I still had half of the Parson Gray fabric leftover. Since I loved that quilt so much (and Jon did too), I decided to make another almost identical quilt to keep for my self to commemorate finishing my degree. Mine is just a little bit bigger than the original at about 50"x70".

I pieced, basted and quilted almost the entire thing at a weekend retreat I went to with the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild at the beginning of January. It was an awesome way to get this project down, I just hunkered down with a great group of women and no distractions (except for hilarious conversation and girly movies).

I learned all kinds of great tips too, from how to make my own spray starch, to ironing a quilt sandwich before basting so the top and back "stick" to the batting (you can use fewer pins!), to making sure that I have tables on all sides of my sewing table so the quilt glides as I quilt it. Quilting this quilt was the first time I wasn't sore from moving the quilt around!

the back

So all around, I'm loving this quilt and the label will read:

"In celebration of earning my PhD and starting the next chapter!"

Quilt for My Advisor

On the eve of my dissertation defense (the final step of getting my PhD), I can't help but feel a little bit nervous and a whole lot of gratitude for all of those who have spent countless hours teaching and mentoring me to get me to this point.

The process of getting a PhD is very much an apprenticeship where one learns the art of research and scholarship from their advisor, and I have been extremely fortunate to have an amazing advisor. He has been patient and encouraging when I've struggled with my research, reminded me to celebrate when things went well and was incredibly supportive when I decided to pursue a career outside of the faculty-track.

I wanted to get him a gift, but I had no idea what to get him until I ran across this post on Greenleaf Goods. She had made a beautiful quilt for her advisor and I realized that a quilt would be perfect for mine as well. It would be personalized for him and the process of making it allowed me to reflect on my time in grad school as I sewed the strips together, quilted the top and hand stitched the binding.

And the product is my new favorite quilt. I'll be sad to have it leave, but I'm so thankful that I was able to give my advisor a gift that was made with my own hands. For me, it's the only gift that comes close to expressing how truly grateful I feel.

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Quilt details:
- Inspired by this quilt and this quilt
- 48"x 60"
- Fabric from Parson Grey's Curious Nature line with Kona O.D. Green
- All over stipple quilting with straight lines around the log cabins and along edge of stripe

Notes from some weekend sewing

Highlights from the weekend:
- It is possible for me to make a quilt in a weekend
- This is probably my favorite quilt to date
- I heart spray baste and will probably never baste a quilt with safety pins again
- I would rather sew gifts for others than sew for myself
- The Curious Nature line (from Parson Grey) is very difficult to color match

I can't wait to get the binding on this quilt, not only because I'm excited to finish, but also because I can do the hand sewing while watching the Olympics! More photos coming soon!

Weekend Plan

I have a plan for sewing this weekend. It involves:

these blocks

these strips

and this sketch

Wish me luck! I've got until Thursday to finish it up!!

p.s. Life has been particularly quiet on the sewing front for the last six weeks--I turned in my dissertation! Since then, I've been using the downtime before my defense to travel and it's been so relaxing to spend time with family and friends in all different places. My defense is on Thursday (this weekend's quilt is a gift for my advisor) and then we'll be making the big move to Ann Arbor a week later! 

Ricketts Glen State Park

Me and Best Friend in Chicago

Family Reunion Band

Home Sweet Home (Minneapolis, MN)