My husband loves Willie Nelson. Since we moved to Austin a few years ago, he’s grown even more fond of the country legend.
Willie is kind of a big deal here in his hometown, with a street named after him, statues around town and his famous July 4th picnic and music festival. You cannot have Willie without thinking of Austin and you certainly can’t think of Austin (famous for its live music and outlaw country) without thinking of Willie.
So when Dan asked me if I’d like to head to the Austin Rodeo and see Willie Nelson and his family perform afterwards, it was a no-brainer. Aside from quilting and teaching pole fitness, I also really enjoy live music and anything with horses.
While we were at the rodeo I got an email from the Austin Modern Quilt Guild that they would be taking submissions for a display at the Austin airport.
Hmmm, maybe I can quilt Willie and combine a few of my favorite things? And so the idea was born.
It wasn’t without difficulty though. It seemed like everything went wrong on this quilt. My sewing machine mysteriously started acting up, and I ended up breaking and entering Stephanie’s house to borrow her spare machine while she was at the hospital with her daughter Sophie (she broke her arm but is doing great now).
I kept a local quilt store open late because I ran out of the perfect shade of Aurifil thread right at closing time the night that the quilt pictures were due.
It was a race to finish before the sun went down to allow for good pictures. All in all, it was the must difficult quilt I’ve made, but it was well worth it.
There were some amazing quilts that were submitted to our guild for the exhibit, and I feel truly honored that my quilt was selected to be in the art display at the Austin Bergstrom International Airport.