Birthday Art

So last fall I was introduced to a new type of art that I had never previously considered. Art quilting fascinated me from the moment that I first saw it. I decided that I wanted to learn more about it and I wanted to try it out! So, I decided to make a wall hanging for my daughter for her birthday. It took me about 3 weeks to complete, but I thoroughly enjoyed making it and look forward to making another.

The project began with some brain storming. I asked Alisha what types of things she would like, if I were to do some art for her. She had a number of suggestions... dragons, a ship in a storm, and a few others. However, as I considered her suggestions, those were the two that stuck in my mind. To connect the images, I added a third one, a light house which included a ship on the sea and a dragon flying in the sky. 

As I brainstormed I began to see spiritual parallels. That cemented the project in my mind. I sketched it out and then began the fun of assembling it. 

First I went shopping for just the right fabrics. I came home with lots of colors and a bonus... a water print! That made the ship panel easy to do so that's where I started! I drew the patterns to scale, each one being the same size as a letter size copy paper. I traced and cut and assembled starting with the ship, then the lighthouse and lastly the dragon...

Once all the panels were sewed I put the whole thing together adding a border in the colors Alisha had specifically asked for. I added the backing and it was ready to be quilted.

 This was my first time machine quilting and it took a little practice on some scraps to decide what I wanted to do, but I LOVED making it! Here is the finished product... I have added rhinestones and beads to make it sparkle and shimmer.

I added an explanation on the back that tells of the spiritual symbols I was impressed with as I assembled it. I added some beads and ribbons to the top and it was ready to present.

The day arrived about a week after the actual birthday. Alisha and Brandon came down and celebrated with us. It was a fun and memorable birthday celebration...

After a special birthday meal we enjoyed cake and of course opening presents. This year her choice of cake was angel food. We had just had a Relief Society activity where they served angel food cake and gave out a number of recipes for angel food cake toppings. With that fresh in my mind, I prepared a couple of my favorite toppings for Alisha's birthday cake.

Here you see her opening her gifts. Her expression tells it all as she pulls her wall hanging out of the box.

Following the cake we started playing games. Spoons kept our attention for a while and we played several rounds before calling it a night.

We all looked forward to having Alisha come home for a while to celebrate her birthday with us. We cleaned the house with a little extra attention, cooked the food to her requests, and wrapped gifts, planned games and then just enjoyed the moments we had together. Life is full of moments to enjoy and I have found that the moments I enjoy the most are those I spend together with my children and husband. It is absolutely delightful having my older children come home to visit and spend some time with us. I can't begin to express how much I look forward to these visits - even the short ones! I love it when we have time to sit back and relax, play a few games and visit. 

Truly I would not trade one second of family time for all the money or entertainment in the world. Time is one thing that when invested in family, yields the richest dividends of life. What a blessing and joy it is to gather my family round, to love them, to laugh with them and share my life with them.