We love hearing from you, learning what inspires you, and, of course, swooning over your projects. In the Spotlight this week, we share a sweet conversation with one of our BOM subscribers, Jenny. Together, four generations of women in Jenny's family worked on Secret Garden to create a beautiful heirloom, stitching lasting bonds and memories with each block. 

DuckaDilly:  What inspired you to embark on a multi-generational quilt?

Jenny:  Honestly, three years ago I was looking for a project with a style of sewing that my grandmother enjoyed and could still do with her current vision level. About that time, I began to see announcements for Secret Garden in my DuckaDilly newsletters. With monthly mailings of a few blocks at a time, I realized we could do some 'pre-prep' to get it ready for my grandmother to be able to handle it.

I also thought it would be a great quilt for my daughter and she would love receiving something that special from her great-grandmother. THEN, I realized my daughter could also contribute to the process and that the assembly steps would naturally lend itself to each of us working in our own spaces and individual schedules. I knew the experience and finished quilt would be a forever treasure.

DD:  Tell us about the members of your family working on Secret Garden. Did everyone have quilting experience going into this?

Jenny:  We all came in with some experience but the modern appliqué process used for this quilt was new to all of us.

• My grandmother, Ruth, has almost never been without a needle in her hands. She has made 3 or 4 needle-turn appliqué quilt tops and had them quilted for each of her granddaughters and daughter. 
  
• My mom, Susan, has watched and studied quilts being made and is a good seamstress (she made my wedding gown which had extensive hand embroidery).
• My daughter, Morgan, actually introduced me to quilting through a Girl Scout badge her troop worked on! They each made a simple block rag quilt, and when she wanted to branch out on her own to make a quilt Christmas gift, she pulled me into the process.
• With all that family experience in sewing and crafts I picked up quilting quickly. Since my daughter introduced quilting to me specifically, I have continued to mostly work with traditional piece quilting. I usually write my own patterns, as I'm a graphic design professional and seem to be good with 'quilt math'.

DD:  What is your history with Liberty fabrics?

Jenny:  As I explored the fabric world through other quilters, I naturally encountered Liberty fabric. At the same time, we were planning to visit London as part of a long planned Girl Scout adventure. My co-troop leader also loved quilting so we made sure the Liberty store was on our list of places to visit. Of course, nothing can compare to walking into the heart of their fabric department! I was hooked and bought way too much, without having any idea what I would do with it. Most of it is still sitting in my stash :-). Since then, I've used Tana Lawn for various projects as well as purchased clothing. There is nothing like it.

DD:  What do you cherish most about the process of working on Secret Garden together?

Jenny:  I think we all experienced this project differently but with equal delight. Each month a box would come and my daughter and I would delightfully look at all the prints that arrived. Then, my mom and I would schedule a weekend visit to do the prep work of cutting, ironing and glueing. It was an excellent opportunity to spend time chatting and laughing through the evening and catching up on the endless things mothers and daughters have to talk about. When we took the newly prepped quilt blocks to swap with the completed ones to my grandmother, she would be happy to receive a few more to work on and 'keep her busy'. There seemed to be a lot of discussion on the best way to approach the 'next step' and all of us enjoyed bouncing ideas around.

I think the entire process enriched our women's circle which is so important in our family, bringing my daughter into our tight knit group as an adult. Since this was to be her quilt, she led the way on many of our decisions. I also absolutely loved that we each brought something special to the process, but learned about all the steps. My grandmother did 80% of the appliqué, my mother did most of the quilting and helped with all the cutting/ironing/glueing. I did some of everything and all the assembly work. My daughter had to work to carve out time for contributing and insisted on putting her initials on the block that was 100% done by her. 

So, what do I cherish most? I think it's the memory of the entire process, experience, and time gifted to all of us. That's something that can never be taken away and will always bond us more strongly.  

Thank you again to Jenny, Ruth, Susan, and Morgan for sharing your Secret Garden journey with us. The art of quilting has such a rich history rooted in community and family. Stories like this delight and inspire us. We hope they do the same for you! 

xo, DuckaDilly