I started this quilt in April. I pieced just more than half of the letters in June and then put it away until October. We celebrated our 10th anniversary that month and because this quilt was made with all of that in mind, I decided to try and finish it before we reached our 20th. In spite of some well-deserved skepticism, I managed to do just that. I handed it off to Grammie for quilting in November.
We are sleeping under it in December.
The details:
- It measures approx 89" by 92". The original pattern calls for the spacer lines at 6 1/2", but I shortened them to 4" so that I didn't have to buy the three extra yards of grey. I am totally happy with that decision.
- The prints are a mix of a Japanese import "Folklore", Denyse Schmidt's "Hope Valley", and some random stash prints (mostly Japanese import dots and flowers). The back was pieced with two flannel prints from Moda.
- The quilting is a pantograph called Basket Weave (I think) done by the most wonderful Gayle Karol of Tillie Studio. I cannot say enough good things about the entire process.
- I wrote about starting here and then wrote a more detailed process post here. You can see a couple more pictures, including a shot of the whole thing, on flickr. I was worried about piecing the letters together into rows, but that ended up being the most painless bit, I think. I also struggled a bit with choosing the colour for the sashing rows, as I had originally intended on going with something like plaid shirting or basic off-white. I took a row down to Bolt and Amy and I decided that both of those options washed the entire thing out.
I chose lyrics from an Over the Rhine song that I first heard when I was 16 and have loved ever since. The entire song is seconds long and I managed to get all the words (save for one repeated phrase) on the 11 rows. Thinking back, I might have added those words if I were to redo it. I have plans for more... maybe. Once you start making quilts speak, it's hard to stop.
Cast me away
From yesterdays things
In deed and in my memory
Sweeten the taste of the past, (of the past)
And make just a little more time for me
