My Road Home Quilt Row

I am happy to be able to reveal my row for The Road Home Row Along. 

What an undertaking! Marian of Seams To Be Sew and Amy of Sew Incredibly Crazy worked for many months organizing and scheduling the designers and then gathering sponsors. 40 designers, from all over the world, creating quilt rows representing HOME to each of them. Thanks and more thanks to both of you. And a big thank you to the many sponsors who have supplied the giveaways for the duration of this Row Along. The giveaways can be found below.

The link to my free row pattern is HERE. Read a little more to learn why I choose these representations for my Road Home.  

I have lived in Michigan my entire life. I was born, raised and attended college on the east side of the state, a very large metropolitan area. I moved to a rural area on the west side of Michigan, about 30 miles from the shores of Lake Michigan, when I began teaching. I have traveled throughout Michigan and have enjoyed making memories of the places I have gone. What I have especially appreciated is the flora and fauna that can be seen around the state. I chose to create appliques that represent some (I had to limit what I chose) of the wildlife I have seen as I travel to and from "home."

My row has appliques of a white-tailed deer, a green darner dragonfly, apple blossoms, a robin and dwarf lake iris--these are just some of the "state symbols" for Michigan. We see deer in our own backyard and are watchful when driving as they can run into or across the roads at any time. (Twice in my driving, I have had cars damaged when a deer jumped in front of me.) 

I live near and travel through The Ridge, the area where all kinds of fruits and vegetables are grown, especially apples (my favorite) so, I included the apple blossom, our state flower. 

Our state bird, the robin, migrates north and announces Spring's arrival as they eat and hop on lawns and build nests. I included the green darner dragonfly because they are found along and near much of Michigan's waterways darting about eating insects. 

The official state wildflower is the dwarf lake iris, which I have seen when traveling during the summer in the Upper Peninsula. It is a small, rare flower, that grows in low wet spots near beaches, not on them. It is "found only on the coastlines of northern Lake Michigan and northern and easter Lake Huron, a small site on the southern shore of Lake Superior, and a few isolated islands of the Great Lakes." 

The state motto is: if you are seeking a pleasant peninsula, look around you. The native Ojibwa people called this area mishigamaa  which means, "large water" or "large lake."The French named it Michigan. Michigan is surrounded by 4 of the 5 Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie. Michigan is two peninsulas; one is shaped like a mitten.  In fact, when we show someone where we live, we point to a place on our hand. 

We can also show the upper and lower peninsulas with both our hands. When I was a kid, the car license plates were green and white and said, "Water Winter Wonderland" on them.

I have learned to appreciate all we have in Michigan and try my best to insure these wondeful flora and fauna are here for future generations. 

Thank you for visiting today. I hope you find a way to incorporate these appliques in one of your next quilting projects. I will respond to comments left (if you leave an email address) as soon as I can. I know there can be many.

Below are the Rafflecopter entries for the giveaways. And below those, the links to the other designers posting today and the following weeks. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

September 22

Words & Stitches
Quilt Art
Any Pattern
Patchwork Breeze

September 27

Creatin’ in the Sticks
I Can Quilt 2
Sue Griffiths Featured At Just Let Me Quilt
Seams To Be Sew  and  Batts In The Attic
(Dual Posting)

September 29

Quilted Fabric Art
Westend Quilter
Pamela Quilts
Quilt Fabrication

October 04

Patchouli Moon Studio
Linda Robertus
Elm Street Quilts
Sarah Quinn Featured At Seams To Be Sew

October 06

Cheryl LaPlant Featured At Quilt In Piece
Miss Loreen’s Schoolhouse
Bumbleberry Stitches
Needle in a Hayes Stack
Cloth and Paper Studio 

On October 11, visit Seams To Be Sew to see the Show and Tell of projects the designers have made by combining many of the rows.