A long time ago, probably eight years ago, Ann and I were
poking around shops in Wisconsin and I came upon a sale of a bag of batik fat
quarters. A vinyl bag, with the hues
arranged in descending rows of shininess. I don’t know a fat quarter from a thin dime,
but bought the whole four or five pounds of shades of the rainbow. They sat on a shelf for quite some time.
When I started the scrap clearance project a while back I
did progress from sewing fabric to phone book pages, to making an actual paper
pieced block called snowflake. I made so
many of those blocks I put together a quilt for Carol. I thought about using the batik to make a New
York Beauty, but found I can no longer get that degree of precision cutting
from my hands. The shiny bag went back
on the shelf.
I bought a remnant bolt of muslin a couple of years ago and
set about making more snowflake blocks from the batik. I could make five five inch blocks from each
fat quarter. I made blocks until I ran
out of muslin. The charity quilt project
happened about then, and the snowflake blocks went into a basket. Last summer I had Laura and Emily lay out the
blocks. Those little girls are great
with color; they spent an afternoon moving blocks from one position to
another. They stacked them up in order,
numbered each row, and put the blocks back in the basket.
When I thought I ran out of charity quilt blocks a couple of
weeks ago I decided I’d start back on putting together the snowflake quilt,
which will be very nice for Caroline’s new bedroom. Jan cut the setting strips for me during the
week, and I thought what a great weekend project. I’ll put that quilt together this weekend.
Now we’re down to the funny part. There are one hundred eighty blocks. Each with a frame and a corner stone. I’ve been eight years making this quilt and
just because all the blocks are done and all the setting strips cut, I’m going
to finish in one more weekend. When
quilts fly. But, I am half done. The drawer and a half of charity quilt blocks
that just keep coming in won’t spill over before I finish the quilt for
Caroline’s new room, next weekend.
Goodness, Joanne! That is beautiful!! I gave up trying to cut such fine pieces! This will be a gorgeous quilt. Lucky Caroline's room!
ReplyDeleteAnyone who can quilt is a winner in my book..I have to psyche myself up to sew a button on! That quilt is a BEAUTY!!
ReplyDeleteJane x
Persistence definitely pays! Lovely work.
ReplyDeleteI love the colours.
ReplyDeleteI'm a man who could never make something so beautiful. It's lovely.
ReplyDeleteThat is so beautiful. My hands will no longer let me play but I can and do appreciate the artistry of other people. Thank you for showing that gem.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about quilts but you have a great talent for making them. I have seen quilts in a museum before and know they can tell a story. Anything handmade has a story.
ReplyDeleteThis is a work of art, the points, the colors, it could not have been easy...but it certainly is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful! What a work of art! Who says art can't be practical, too! Beautifully done. Can't wait to see the finished product!
ReplyDeleteBonza quilt, very colourful indeed :-).
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to join a quilting circle... They're pieces of practical art, and that speaks to me.
ReplyDeletePearl
This is a beauty!
ReplyDelete