I reserved this domain name a number of years ago – when fabric was about $6/yd.  For those of you who have been quilting and buying quality quilt fabric, you’ll realize this has been my domain name for quite a while.  In that time, I’ve had non-quilters ask me what Quilt Therapy really was…while seasoned quilters smirk and enjoy their own forms of Quilt Therapy.

And back in those earlier days of my quilting, it was said that Quilt Therapy was less expensive than true therapy.  Right now, with the cost of fabrics, quilting, shipping – I would definitely have to say that if you are a proficient quilter, it is NOT cheaper – though, for me, it is way more satisfying!

Let’s see if I can throw out my own definition of Quilt Therapy for you.

A lovely little baby girl was born to a great set of parents, the baby’s mother I personally knew since my youngest daughter was less than one.  This little baby’s mother was my mother’s helper when I had very young children…and as she grew up and got more responsible, she was our go-to babysitter for our kids.  She took the kids to her house in the summer because I worked from home and needed some quiet time to get my work done.  She and her parents took our kids when my husband had to have an emergency appendectomy…and they took our kids in when a precious life ended far too soon and we had to fly from Utah to Texas to attend her services.  If we were going somewhere and needed an extra set of hands (like to the public swimming pool), she went with us.  She was and still is an awesome person – and we could not have been more pleased when she finally had a baby of her own.  She spent a few years of her marriage with just her husband, because her mom told me that her babysitting my four kids was the best birth control there ever was!  I think they’d been married for about five (or more) years before they had this precious new life in their hearts and in their home.

This new baby calls to me and I begin MY Quilt Therapy.  It can be a long and winding road, especially if I have to rip out a seam or two (or six), but the Quilt Therapy gives me such a blast of fresh quilted air that I enjoy every single process of making a quilt.

I am not as expedient nor able to quilt quite as much as I used to – with this multiple sclerosis, I can usually get in 15 – 30 minutes, on my feet (choosing or buying fabric, cutting, ironing, etc.) most days before my body parts start screaming for relief.  So now, when I make a quilt, I spend however many hours or days it takes to cut out the quilt pieces.  Then I rest.  Another few days and I will press all of the cut out pieces.  Then I rest.  Sitting down to piece a quilt top is pretty simple, and even more simple when it’s a baby quilt because it’s smaller than larger bed quilts.  But, there is ironing involved in that piecing process and once again, I do my piecing in daily/weekly increments so as not to be in too much pain.

So, now I have the quilt top done…however my Quilt Therapy isn’t finished yet!

This is a photograph of the completed baby quilt top.

Once the top is done, I have to decide if I can quilt it on my domestic machine or if I want a professional quilter to use her long-arm and quilt it for me.  In this case, I decided to go with a pro (Kathryn Rister) – mostly because a baby quilt is usually used a lot and washed a lot and it needs to stand up to the test of time.

This is a close-up of part of the quilt top quilted.

Although it’s not easy to see, this is the professionally quilted quilt top.

Next in the Quilt Therapy process is the binding.  Then the label on the back…and sending the completed quilt to the little baby it was intended for.  Not yet!  I’m not quite done with my Quilt Therapy for this quilt.

THIS is the closure I get when I enjoy my Quilt Therapy: