We were lucky to catch up with DEVIDA BUSHROD recently and have shared our conversation below.

DEVIDA, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

There are a few meaningful projects that I have worked on that stand out to me (I am lucky that every project I do I have a connection with and a love for!) The one that is probably at the forefront of my mind is the Platinum Jubilee Quilt.

In 2022 I carved out the year to focus on making one quilt a month of a woman that has inspired me and had planned on gifting the quilt to them. As June rolled around and the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, and as a Brit that was very homesick living in Oklahoma and seeing all her friends and family back home preparing for street parties and gatherings for the Platinum Jubilee – I decided to make a quilt of Queen Elizabeth to mark the occasion here in Oklahoma.

I designed the quilt in 14 different colours and over 2,600 pieces of fabric and quilted it just with straight lines on my longarm. After she was done and bound I thought I needed to add something extra and so I started sewing on gold beads to her crown and her earrings by hand. From cutting each piece to quilting it and hand sewing each bead, when she was done she had around 80-90 hours of work in her.

I went online in May to get the address of the Queen and saw on her website, in bold letters ‘THE QUEEN DOES NOT ACCEPT UNSOLICITED GIFTS’ which kinda made sense! So instead of sending the actual quilt, I took photos of it and wrote her a letter and enclosed the photos.

The Platinum Jubilee came and went. I had an open house for my friends and baked English goodies for days in preparation. I really didn’t expect to ever hear anything more.

The on July 4th weekend 2022 I went to the mailbox and saw a letter with the Royal Crest on it. The paper was thick and I was so nervous and giddy that I had gotten something back from the palace.

The letter inside was signed by Mary Morrison (out of the 70 years Queen Elizabeth was on the throne, Mary Morrison was with her for 64 of those years) It said that ‘The Queen was most grateful for your message of congratulations and your kind words and I am to thank you for your thought for Her Majesty at this time.’ ‘It was kind of you to suggest you would like to send your quilt as a gift to the Queen, can I advise you that this should be sent via Royal Mail to Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace, London, SW1a 1AA’

Mind. Blown.

The Queen wanted my quilt.

Now I would love to end this story with a beautiful bow, a fairytale ending – but there really isn’t one. After word got out that the quilt I made would be going to Queen Elizabeth, people wanted to see it, so it was hung in a local quilt store for 2 weeks before I boxed it up and sent it to my Mum in England. In England it was hung at a craft store in my hometown for 2 weeks and then my Mum packaged it up and sent it to her Majesty.

The quilt arrived at Buckingham Palace and was signed for the morning after Queen Elizabeth died.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a self taught quilter of 18 years, who started making quilts out of necessity. When my son was a newborn and moving into a crib in his own room, I spent hours making curtains etc.. for him. I realized that the only thing that he didn’t have to tie everything together, was a blanket of some sorts. So I whipped up a simple quilt out of all the fabrics I had used in his bedroom. Simple quilt squares all sewn together.

From there my daughter 2 years old was about to move into a big girl bed, so I asked her to pick some fabrics from my stash and I did the same for her and made her a quilt for her big girl bed.

Since then I must have made over 100 quilts. I have tried many patterns – complex, easy, hand sewn, machine sewn. I always love the end result (which was often a gift) but more often than not did not love the process.

Fast forward to 2021 when I wanted to make a quilt of Billie Eilish to take as a banner to a Billie Eilish concert with my daughter (long story) I found pixel quilts…and the rest, as they say, is history.

I love everything about creating pixel quilts. I love the design, I love the colours, I love messing with different images and seeing what works the best as pixels. Pixel quilts aren’t scary – they are always just tiny straight lines, no bias seams or tiny triangles. There is a never a nasty surprise! I love everything about them!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Creativity and the impact on mental health.

I have a long history of depression and creativity has been a heaven send for me.

In making these pixel quilts I would like to reach as wide of an audience as possible I would love to inspire others to try their hand, at not only quilts, but anything creative because the benefits are so far beyond what people imagine them to be.

Pixel quilts give me a focus when my brain is running at a million miles and hour, they give me a creative outlet that I am able to feel not only pleasure from making these quilts but also have grown in confidence.

Creativity is magic.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

People pleasing.

It was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn (unlearn)

Creating a business and being a people pleaser is not a good combination. You get taken advantage of. You get drawn into things that you don’t want to do. You find it hard to say no (and then guilty when you do say no)

I have had to learn that in order to protect my mental health and my own sanity – I have to say no to projects (I can’t make quilts for every ill person on the interwebs as much as i’d like to, it would be like me trying to chop down a rainforest with a nail file)

Not everyone will like me – thats ok.

I don’t have to explain why I am unable to do certain projects, a simple ‘no i’m sorry that is not possible for me’ will have to suffice and if they are mad then again, I have to be ok with them being mad/not liking me.

I will piss off competitors by stepping on their toes, that is another unfortunate part of this process that I have had to find peace with. There are very few markets without competition, so there will be people that your very presence annoys the hell out of. Don’t take it personally, it is not illegal to be competition for someone else in the market (those are the exact words a copyright attorney once told me after he could see how anxious I was creating this business and annoying others in their space!)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pixelquilts.com (new website in development and being launched soon)
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pixelquilt/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pixelquilt/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxCm67ZOlKMS1G-ddby5EWA
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/