It must have seemed like a long wait for her name to come up in my backorder list of customers, but Colleen Betances was excited for work to begin on Colleen’s modern wall hangings. I appreciate Colleen’s patience at the delays. Using her dad’s shirts, Colleen wanted something she could frequently view and that would be a reminder of her dad.
Designs
Through our correspondence with ETSY and with private email, we discussed several possibilities. Pictures of various designs were sent back and forth. Colleen sent me a picture of the areas in her home where she wanted to hang the wall hangings. This was so helpful and gave me a “feel” for the type of hangings she wanted.
Work begins
Using her selected choices, I created two wall hanging designs on my computer. One is pieced using flying geese blocks arranged randomly in vertical rows. The second hanging was based on a picture she sent me, and I call this one hanging rectangles. Each rectangle was pieced with strips of the shirt fabrics cut into irregular widths and curves, and then stitched together. The rectangles were connected by strips of one of the dark shirts. The vertical rows of rectangles were alternated with a narrow row of beige background fabric. I think the resulting design is quite lovely and unique.
Completion
Before this project, I found myself choosing traditional quilts. But Colleen’s modern wall hangings have led me to investigate more modern designs. And I like them! I have already begun thinking of something different for my next personal quilt. So, thank you Colleen for introducing me to a whole new style of quilting. I hope you enjoy them daily and that they bring you sweet memories of your dad.
