A Quilt for Hillary

Some occasions call for grand gestures and celebrations.

We fill these moments with tokens of love and appreciation.

We mark them with speeches and songs, videos and tears, togetherness… and sometimes, surprises.

Today, Hillary Felder was celebrated— and surprised with a quilt.

Gifted by |

Kirk School, to honor and celebrate their outgoing Director

Designed and Constructed by |

Meghan Lewis DeFrank and Bonnie Lewis

Embroidered and Dyed by |

Tifanie White

The finished quilt features a double sided design |

🧵 On one side:

• An original pieced compass design {the school’s logo}

🪡 And the other:

•Six colorful houses {in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple} representing a new school tradition

•Hand embroidered signatures of all student, staff and PTF members

• Sewn in alternating colors; a nod to the school’s 2024-2025 theme: rainbow

Meghan’s initial sketches for the “Houses” side of the quilt:

The rooftop yardage for each house ↑ was dyed in custom colors ↓, coordinating with a fun project from earlier in the school year.

We collected all teachers, students, admin, and PTFs physical signatures, so everyone could sign the gift in their own hand.

How?

→ Names were printed on white paper in black Sharpie then

→ Transferred on to white fabric, using a water soluble pen and

→ Hand embroidered with an array of colorful sashiko thread

Signatures transferred and ready for embroidery

With the theme of the school year being rainbow, the names had to be in colorful thread. I used variegated (color changing) and non-variegated (solid) hoping they would feel harmonious as a whole— and yet, let each name stand out from one another.

For a hot second I imagined what sticking to a single homogenized skein of rainbow thread would look like… but I was afraid it could look like a blander wall of color. Instead, I wanted to create a visual treasure hunt packed with tons of tiny details and thus needed differentiation.

I don’t have photos of the finished quilt yet, but she’s a beauty.

I loved working on this project.

Creating something heartfelt, celebrating someone as wonderful as Hillary feels like magic. To say that she is loved would be an understatement.

Love is just the start of it.

All content is owned by Tifanie White | studio. Unauthorized use including reproduction, distribution, reposting, downloading and transferring is prohibited.