Why do I call the quilt "Roots and Wings"?
When my mom was pregnant with me she made a framed embroidery that said
"There are two lasting gifts we can give to our children - one is roots, the other wings."

This is the first big quilt I ever made. It started as a 7th grade math fair project on tessellations.
The pattern is Dutchman's Puzzle, alternated with solid blocks. I pieced and quilted the entire quilt by hand. I quilted butterflies, birds, and birdhouses in the solid blocks (wings) and a vine and leaves on the green border (roots).
I finished this quilt just before I left to go to a residential high school. In the 16 years that I lived at home, my parents helped give me strong roots, and I was finally ready to use my wings.