Always to remember to fall asleep with a dream, and wake up with a purpose!!" - Sarah Lamb, Principal Ballet Dancer - Royal Ballet.
I need to start off this post by saying this quilt pattern design has been on my mind for years and is very close to my heart. When I was growing up, I trained to become a Professional Ballet dancer. When I was 13 years old, I auditioned and was accepted into a Professional Ballet School! This meant I had the opportunity to train 6 to 7 days a week and was given school credits so I was able to go half-day to school - half-day dance... every day!!! I learned so much about dreams, goals and determination through that period of my life. I went on to become a professional Ballet Teacher and ran my own dance studio for a decade before having children and making the decision to stay home and raise them. Throughout all those years of training and then later teaching, I always designed and sewed dance costumes for myself and later for many of my students. I have drawn and redrawn this pattern many times over the years and I finally decided it was time to make this pattern a reality!
The purpose of this quilt design is to TRANSFORM the recipient INTO a Ballerina! When they lay under the quilt at night, or snuggle under it while reading their favorite book, they become the ballerina of their dreams! I want this quilt to be more than just a blanket... I hope that is can become a source for inspiration, play, creativity, conversation and of course, imagination!
I had the opportunity to sew the sample quilt with some beautiful Riley Blake Designs Basic Fabrics! I wanted the ballerina's costume and the background to have a magical stage feel and chose to use Shades fabric to give this depth and texture. I love the quality it gave the quilt! I used Confetti Cottons for the skin tone, tights and curtains to give them a smoother feel for the overall visual of the quilt. I had the pleasure to use a Shades wide-backing on the quilt! Wow - if you have never bought a wide backing before, you really should try... it is such a pleasure to quilt a quilt with no seam down the back!
As we all know, the past 12 months have been challenging on many organizations, non-profits and businesses! I wanted to use my talent of designing and sewing to pay it forward to the Ballet Company that gave me the inspiration to make this quilt happen. I have donated this sample quilt to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (where I studied) – to be auctioned off as a part of their annual fundraiser. These types of fundraisers are more important than ever for organizations like this and I am honored to be able to give back in this way!
My hope is that this quilt will inspire dreams, courage and magic in each recipient that receives this quilt. I would have really enjoyed photographing this quilt with one of my entire classes of ballet dancers that I taught last year... but due to covid... that was not possible. I was fortunate enough to invite one of my past dancers and honestly, these moments fill my heart! She tried on a pair of my pointe shoes and practiced her own tendues and pirouettes! What a joy to watch her imagination soar!!!
If you would like to make your own Be A Ballerina Quilt - please consider joining our LIVE - FREE QAL in April 2021! Every Wednesday at 2pm CST at Inspired Quilting FB Group, I will be LIVE giving you tips, tricks and helping you sew your own Be A Ballerina Quilt - step by step! We will also have prizes and other fun stuff! You don't need to sign up to join, all you need to do is
1. Grab a copy of the pattern HERE
2. Request to join the FREE FB group HERE
3. Mark the dates from the Bee Sew Inspired Quilting Calendar HERE
p.s. This gorgeous building below is our community's Opera House! It is where so many of the arts in our community gather. From dance lessons, to music lessons, to performances and theatre! Like I said at the beginning of this blog post, designing this quilt was a personal journey for me, and it feels like I am home!
Sooo exited to sew this quilt along together with you and share in the magic and fun!