Quilt-making Equals Stories

The stories about quilt-making are personal and universal.  When you touch quilts, there's an essence evoked that is palpable.  Run your hand over a quilt.  You can feel it.  Each piece of fabric that was chosen, cut up, and then used in the quilt has a special distinction.   There is memory in it.

This quilt's story begins back a couple decades to 1996, and threading its way to the present.  As a member of Napa Valley Quilters in 1996, I participated at times in the Block of the Month, receiving the pattern for that month in the mail, along with our newsletter.  This story is about one of those BOM journeys.

Block of the month, September 1996, Napa Valley Quilters:  Autumn Splendor.  I cut it apart and then used those templates to cut my scrap fabrics.

I pieced ten (10) blocks using a multitude of scraps.  Most bits were from 6" squares given to me by Natasha Spickler.

Each time I look at the fabrics used, I remember Natasha, her precious laughter and most charming generosity.  She and I were part of a 'Monday' group of Napa Quilters, getting together to share patterns, fabrics, stories, food and in general we were support for each other.

So to back track a bit, I loved this patchwork design and made the blocks in 1996/1997.  In 2010, I pulled them out of a bin and set out to put the quilt top together.  At that time, I tried blocks to separate the patchwork.  In browns.

Next, I tried using red blocks separators.

And finally turquoise and grayed greens.  This is the color combo I most liked.

Sashing.  The next color story to be developed was what to use for the sashing.  The red batik shown here was from a jelly roll mix of 2 1/2" strips.

Then I tried a mixture of prints ranging in value from mid to dark.

But this red feather print fabric sealed the sashing deal:  turquoise and red together?  in 2010.  Bordering squares and patchwork.

I'm pretty sure the red was a Jenny Beyer print. Anyone able to confirm?  To follow is a closer look at the fabric along with my trusty calculator, tape measure, pen and tablet (the paper kind) to come up with how many inches of sashing I would need.

I think this is Jinny Beyer fabric.

Once I had the sashing sewed, I needed to come up with borders. The turquoise used is some I hand-marbled in a class taught by Louise Thompson at Point Bonita CA., one of Janet Paluch's conferences.

The border lacked pizzaz.  A glance perchance provided inspiration when I spotted an apple.  It was the perfect color so I went to my stash and found a comparable color.  

Testing the fabrics for the corners.

Here's the finished quilt top.  I dearly love how it turned out.  The top needs to be quilted, maybe in 2017 (hopefully).  Oh, and the stems for each leaf need to be appliquéd.

We who are makers all have stories about our quilting journey.  One of the most satisfying experiences I have is hearing the stories, and have had the privilege of hearing many after lectures that I would give to quilt groups.