This quilt is one of my all-time favorites. I thought about making a red, white and black quilt for the longest time before I actually did it....just couldn't come up with anything that "grabbed" me enough...lol. I could have done the typical Turning 20 and it would have been cute.....or I could have done the Yellow Brick Road, and I would have loved it.....but I wanted something just a little bit more intricate. I went to a LQS when we lived in northwestern Illinois, and I saw the quilt, right there, hanging on the wall....and wouldn't you just know it, they were having a class. The sample quilt was done in Civil War repros...which I really like, but didn't care for in this particular quilt...lol....but I was sure it would work for what I had in mind. I signed up for the class (which was a total blast) and bought my fabrics. Once again, what I planned to be a small quilt turned out BIG....that seems to be a pattern with me, too. I don't know why!! :) I went back 3 times to buy more fabrics for this quilt, because I wanted to make it bigger and bigger....when I got it done....I bought more red, white and black to make another one! :) I call this organized crazy quilting, and it's an awesome pattern.
I think this is the pattern (hope I can put this on here, I'm not sure!):
I know this is is the designer of the pattern....I bought almost all of the patterns because I love them so much! The one I did is a freezer paper stack and whack type quilt, very easy, very quick and very fun!! I love the way it turned out. What do you think??
This quilt is a mindless project I started when my husband and I were planning our move to Missouri. All of my immediate family (including my 2 adult children) lives in Illinois...and I was having some trouble adjusting to the thought of moving so far away. I had seen my children almost every day of their lives, even after they moved out of my house......and my daughter had a baby...my first grandchild, Robbie. I knew I used quilting as therapy, so I went into the quilting room and pulled purple charms and fabrics from my stash, my daughter's favorite color....and just randomly sewed them together....with one exception. I used one "charm" (had yards and yards of the fabric) throughout the quilt consistently....all the rest were hap-hazardly placed. I don't know if I will ever use this quilt, but I probably will finish it up one day.
I have been swapping fabric "charms" with friends for years and years. I have quite a "stash" of charms...lol. I hadn't used them much, other than occasionally cutting them out for dresden plates.....or hexagons for GFG quilts. This was a day I actually began using those charms. I don't think I've done another "charm" quilt since this one.....at least not yet....and I suppose that's a good thing....lol!
This is my "original" therapy quilt. I had several charms cut (for swaps) I was involved in with friends, and these were the fabrics that I had purchased. Whenever I did swaps, I made it a practice to buy a yard or even 2 yards of the fabric, and cut it all up into the swap size, whether 5 inch squares, 6 inch squares or even 6.5 inch squares....so I always had TONS leftover. I didn't know why I did that, other than to build up my charm "stash" I suppose. I had these fabrics sitting on my cutting board, having just swapped pastels with one of the Yahoo groups I'm involved in.....when I got the call from my mom.... My cousin, Norman, who is 11 months older than I am (and I'm not THAT old), died of a heart attack, in his early 40's. I went through quite a myriad of emotions....first shock, then grief....and then the part that surprised even me, a reality check. This cousin is ONLY 11 months older than I am, and I am too young to die! I just randomly started sewing blocks together....I don't even remember starting the quilt....I didn't plan it with my conscious mind, I was sewing strips of 6.5 inch charms together, with absolutely no plans whatsoever.
While I sewed, I remembered all of the good times...and the bad times.... When we were children, my uncle, his wife, and their 2 children (my cousins) lived only about 1-1/2 blocks away from us....and we spent a lot of time together...going to school, playing...and even going on vacations together. We were together for every holiday as a family. This was a very close relationship...almost like a brother during those years. Well, time has a way of changing things...and as we all grew up, we grew apart. Norm began semi-truck driving....and ended up living in Michigan. I was still in Illinois then.....and we didn't really have any contact. When the call came in that he had died, I grieved for him....but also for all of the missed time. He had 2 beautiful little girls that I didn't even know! I had 3 children that he didn't know! That's almost a crime, how did we let that happen?
By the time I left for the funeral, I had the strips all sewn together, and there was a definite pattern to it......guess it was a subconscious thing, because I was most definitely NOT planning a quilt, I was working through a lot of emotion. When we got back from the funeral, I did put the quilt together, but stopped at midpoint. I finished it up after we moved to Missouri, in fact, just last year, several years later. This is another one that I will probably finish. My daughter wants this quilt in the worst way......but I'm still hanging onto it for now....lol....
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And last, but definitely not least is my SunBonnet Sue quilt....and it's a cheater quilt! :) Yep, quilter's cheat sometimes...lol. I bought this as a kit, pieces all cut out for me, at a fabric store. I have always adored SunBonnet Sue....but for some unknown reason, I never put it together. Probably afraid of the BIG A word....applique!! :) Toto, we're not in Kansas, anymore....lol....I would have to applique (!!???!!!) this quilt to finish it up. Well.....here I was in Missouri....yep, it's another therapy quilt with a twist....I also wanted to learn to applique. I finally had the bug. My daughter, son-in-law and their little one moved to Missouri when we did, which was a huge blessing. Unfortunately, things didn't work out for them here and they moved back to Illinois. That was really, really hard on me. I understood it was something they needed to do.....but I was being selfish....I needed them here. Couldn't change anything, though.....so I started a quilt. Go figure! :) I really didn't want to cut anything out, definitely wasn't in the mood for that.....was doing a bit of crying off and on, feeling pretty sorry for myself......so I decided that I needed a distraction, and applique could be just that distraction. I went digging and found my SBS (SunBonnet Sue) quilt kit, all pre-cut. I got it out and decided that if other quilters could machine applique, so could I! I played with the stitches on my little Janome MC4800 quilting/sewing machine until I found the blanket stitch. I didn't know what it was called, but I knew what I wanted the blocks to look like.....so off I went....venturing into the world of applique.
Guess what? I love it! :) The fabric in this kit most definitely isn't the best.....the applique on this quilt is most definitely NOT the best.....but it was fun, I did it...and I actually like it. It also isn't quilted!! :) Yep, a definite pattern.
Well, I enjoyed this trip down memory lane. I feel like I could teach a class on the benefits of quilting as therapy....and I've saved my husband thousands of dollars in therapist bills....plus I have some lovely quilts....who could ask for more?
Until next time,
Quiltingcheri
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