Starting a New Commissioned Quilt

This month I received a request for a commission for a quilt from the River Road Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, MD. They are celebrating their music director, Clif Hardin, who has been with them for 40 years. He is a very accomplished musician that composes beautiful music. He is known internationally and when I started preparing for the commission, he was preparing to play at Carnegie Hall one of his original compositions. When describing his music, one person said

The goal of the melodies and lyrics is to comfort and inspire, to help people feel welcome, accepted and never alone, and to connect people with something beautiful, hopeful and even beyond understanding. 

This was the client's request

The quilt should somehow evoke music, joy, color, life, and people coming together. 

I offered to go to one of the services to hear his music and see the location were the quilt would hang. They had a better idea. He was playing a full concert in preparation for his performance at Carnegie Hall. I went to the concert and it was beautiful. The theme of the concert was loved ones that have passed away. I thought it would be depressing and yes, at the beginning it was a sad but it went thru all the emotions one goes thru after losing a loved one and the end was so moving that I was crying thinking of my Dad and Grandma. I have never cried in a music performance before.

Here's a little taste...

Wherever you go now.

Wherever you go now.

I am the sunlight that wakens with you,

I am your shadow along the grass,

In the quick set hedges when you go walking

I dance on the leaves to see you pass.

Clif Hardin

The church where the quilt will hang is also beautiful. It's all surrounded by trees that you can see from huge floor to ceiling windows with warm wood tones in modern clean lines. The client suggested blues and purples for the quilt and I think they would look great. Full of inspiration, I started designing.