First Star to the Right

“The life of every man is a diary
in which he means to write one story,
and writes another.”

Sir James Matthew Barrie (author of Peter Pan)

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October 2004: I’ve never made a Lone Star quilt (let alone a spiral version), stitched compass points, or used the paper piecing technique beyond the most basic blocks. For me, this is going to be a Zen quilt ~ in honor of the journey. “A Zen quilt is one begun out of a desire to make it rather than to have it”

Early November: The quilt has taken on a life of its own; shedding the pattern’s complex paper pieced blocks in favor of blue swirl batik squares, removing the rusts and browns in favor of yet more shades of blue, and convincing me that it is meant to be our Christmas/birthday gift for my mother to brighten her room at the nursing home and to warm her legs when she sits in her wheelchair.

Mid-November: This has been a difficult project for me. In order to gain some perspective, I checked on the background of the Lone Star quilt design:

Venus shines brighter in the sky than any other star or planet. Lakota people observed the brilliant planet and incorporated it as a symbol into their myths, ceremonies, and works of art. The morning star, probably Venus, dominates Lakota quilt designs.

Lakota women began making quilts in the late 19th century as an alternative to buffalo robes, which were no longer available. They learned the technique from Euro-American women in government schools and church guilds. Lakota quilters singled out the star of Bethlehem pattern as a favorite, most likely because of its resemblance to their traditional morning star design.

Star quilts are made to be given away. Lakota women stitch quilts for new babies, graduations, weddings, veteran homecomings, wakes, and memorials--in sum, for every important occasion in a Lakota's lifetime and death.

And, now that Chris B. has worked her free motion quilting magic, First Star to the Right will be sent to my mom in Michigan, in honor of her journey.

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“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically.
We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly.
We grow partially. We are relative.
We are mature in one realm, childish in another.
The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present.
We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”

Anais Nin