Grounded: A Quilt Block Series

Grounded: A Quilt Block Series That Will Sweep You Off Your Feet and Help You Find Your Footing

I am so excited to announce a new series that we are kicking off here at Simple Simon and Company.

We are calling it “Grounded” and claiming that it will both “sweep you off of your feet” and “help you find your footing”.

Sooooooo…..what is this quilt block series all about?

It is about the amazing patterns, shapes, and colors that can often be found right under our feet.

And, about the healing power of quilting.

Over the past few years I have had some of the best, most wonderful experiences of my life accompanied by the worst, heart wrenching, frustrating, losses and changes I could imagine.

Sitting in my basement, at my sewing machine, stitching in solitude I have not only been able to start making sense of the loss I have experienced and the grief I have felt but have also been able to celebrate and create textiles for once in a lifetime opportunities.

As I’ve cut, pressed, and woven together fragments of fabric my anxiety has lessened, my hurt has eased, and I have had time to find gratitude and ponder how to reconstruct myself.

How glad I am for my sewing machine…and fabric..and thread…and quilts that help me create meaning from chaos and build stories through fiber.

Quilting has literally helped keep me grounded.

In both good times and bad.

And so thus our newest series was born.

Here’s the idea:

Recently, as I have traveled I’ve noticed something right under my own feet…beautiful, intricate flooring….holding me up…supporting my steps…and quietly adding to the ambiance of their locations.

Patterns and colors and designs.

Patterns and colors and designs that would make AMAZING quilts.

So I started taking photos….lots and lots of photos.

And then, upon returning home, sketching out ideas late at night curled up on the couch that will be sewn up early in the peaceful hours of weekend mornings while I think and pray and make order of the chaos in my mind.

These flooring inspired quilt blocks have become something that I love and, perhaps, a bit of an obsession.

I can’t stop making them and finding meaning in the locations they were inspired by….which has lead me to “Grounded: A Quilt Block Series That Will Sweep You Off Your Feet and Help You Find Your Footing”.

From now until…well….until I run out of locations…which could take an eternity…I will share a quilt block inspired by a certain location.

When this happens I will share the tutorial for making the block as well as information about the location the block was inspired by.

Maybe seeing the world through a difference lens will help you like it has helped me.

Maybe stitching up one block at a time will help you find quiet in the crazy.

Maybe finding 15 minutes to sew could help you slow down in this whirlwind we call life.

And maybe, just maybe, we can all heal together…one grounding stitch at a time.

Here’s to finding our footing.

-liZ