Blogger’s Quilt Festival 2010

When it comes to choosing a favorite quilt, I have to say that usually it’s the quilt I’m currently working on. Apologies to my older (and well-loved) quilts, but you guys are no longer my favorites.

However, I can’t exactly submit an unfinished quilt to the Blogger’s Quilt Festival, so here is the one I chose:

I feel fairly confident in saying that this project is the biggest one I have ever worked on – not in size, but in time.

I started it almost a year ago and slowly worked on it between other projects. Right in the middle of the project, I also had to pack up my sewing “area” and move everything down to my new sewing ROOM! So the quilt was set aside for several months while I got everything in order.

Here’s a view of the back:

The back is mostly the green fabric with the little ladybugs – but I did add some pieced squares to use up what few strips I had left. Instead of a traditional quilt label, this time I opted for some applique lettering and I really like the effect.

It’s the perfect picnic blanket size: 58x68. It’s not so big and bulky that it’s awkward to fold and carry, but it is just big enough to fit all four of us and our food (and then big enough for an after-picnic nap.)

Right at the time that I had my sewing room all boxed up, I took a trip home to visit my family. At this point in the progress of the quilt, I was getting pretty tired of paper piecing all of those string blocks. It just started to seem so monotonous and uber-repetitive and I was in a slump. While I was visiting home I spotted one of my grandma’s old quilts and I knew I had to pull it out and photograph it:

After laying the quilt out, photographing it and admiring it, I acquired a new appreciation for my little picnic blanket project. I really couldn’t complain anymore about how long it was taking me! First of all, grandma’s quilt is bigger. Much bigger. It’s also hand quilted and I’m pretty sure it’s hand pieced. Her choices of fabric didn’t come in tidy little fat quarter stacks, they were collected over the years from worn out pieces of clothing.

To top it all off, grandma’s quilt has survived at least 30 years of use by me and my siblings. Sure it has some rips and tears and some of the fabric is wearing thin, but in those flaws I just see the love. Thanks for the inspiration grandma!

At some point I really would like to create my own version of grandma’s wagon wheels. I’d keep the blocks the same size, maybe keep that great orange color there, and modernize the rest of it. For now, that quilt is on the drawing board. Maybe that will be my submission for next year’s quilt festival!