Quote Quilt

 

I decided to make a "quote quilt" after reading High Road Quilter and all about her quote quilt. I find the concept very interesting and thought this past year of coping with the pandemic and into the fresh air of 2021 would be a great source of inspiration. I do not want to focus on all the shenanigans that went on in 2020, but highlight some ideas. 

I started with square in a square blocks made with solid fabrics. I got tired of making those blocks so this is the size my quilt may or may not end up being. I have more fabric so I can make it larger. I intend to work on this quilt sporadically over the next months and work on it when inspiration strikes. 

I started with this "we are all in this together" block. That's been our motto here in Maine. I like the idea that we can weather this pandemic with a feeling of solidarity because we are all in the same boat. It seems to me that if we all look out each other, we will live better lives. 

I have disliked seeing that ball of red spikes that is the ubiquitous image used for Covid-19, the novel coronavirus. It seems to me it should be always depicted with that universal "NO" symbol. Let's put it out there in the universe that we don't want this virus! 

Dr. Fauci says!

Masks are critical not political. Love that! When did getting an illness become political? When you get a cold, do you blame it on your state senator? Nonsense.

Camping

My husband and I had plenty of opportunities to go camping last summer. It was wonderful! Thanks to Covid, no one could really "go" anywhere, but outdoors was okay. Thanks also to my husband being on strike for much of the summer, we had plenty of time to go to the Maine woods in our truck camper. My little porcupine toasting a marshmallow sums up that happy feeling. 

 

Cassandra's Circle quilt top

Barbara Brackman BOM 2020-2021

I've really enjoyed working on this quilt top this past year. The instructions called for a vine type border, which I stitched and had ready. However, once the appliqued borders were on my quilt, I realized that the quilt was enormous, more suitable for a king size bed than my queen size bed. Also, I decided a quilt of that size would be much too large form me to quilt on my domestic machine. I know my limits and I know I would find it too difficult to machine quilt so large a top. In the end, I removed my lovely borders and attached this simple pink and white border. I'm saving my applique border in hopes that I can use it for another project, shortened, of course. 

The blocks are 18 inches and the center is 36 inches. With the borders the quilt would have been 96 inches square. As it is now, it is about 75 inches. 

Do you have a favorite block? I have several but the one I would like to make another time is the block on the left below the corner block. It is the Wild Rose block. 

2020-my quilting year

 During this year of Covid isolation, I have been happily busy with my quilting projects. 

Barbara Brackman BOM "Cassandra" All the pink and green blocks below are part of this BOM. 

Pincushion I made for a pincushion swap with Back Roads quilt chapter. 

Monday's with Moda free pattern. 

Christmas sofa quilt ready for quilting. This was a free pattern. I have the finished quilt on the sofa, but this is the only picture!

Online acrylic painting on fabric with Helen Godden. 

String quilting this summer, not finished. 

Not sure when I finished this! Baxter State Park summer camping memories.

Another quilt top that I am not sure when I finished. It all started years ago with the red star center and grew from there. I machine quilted this top earlier this year, I believe. 

Meg of Little Women. I wanted to make this pattern from Women's Day magazine many years ago and I finally did!

Using up scraps. Still just a quilt top. 

Online class with Helen Godden using Inktense pencils and machine quilting. So fun!

A little quilt for my sewing room door. 

Another quilt top using my stash. 

This quilt was made for a charity for a child to nap on. I used nine patch blocks someone donated at a quilt auction. I bought the quilt blocks and after a few years made this quilt. The blocks all had tags telling who made them and where they lived. Apparently these were made for a online quilt swap. So many years and many miles in the history of this one!

Joy joy joy! Joy in the Morning! 

I have been working on another BOM from Attic Heirlooms. This wall hanging is called Joy in the Morning by Norma Whaley, Timeless Traditions. 

Two of my friends convinced me to try this applique and embroidery challenge. Most of the applique is wool with a few cotton fabric pieces that make it more varied and interesting. The alternate blocks are all cotton.

I am really enjoying each of these little 6-inch blocks. It has been fun searching through my embroidery threads and silk ribbons to make each block special. I'm using the pattern photo to guide my color choices for the most part, a few changes here and there. 

It is good to have something absorbing to work on in the time of quarantine and isolation. My husband and I were finally able to take our new camper to the North Maine Woods recently. We went swimming and relaxed for a couple of days. It is a long ride to where we like to camp but we enjoy the ride, too. I worked on a simple backstitch embroidery piece while we were there. I'll post about that soon. 

Take care! Stay safe and stay home. Wash your hands. Wear a mask, it's the least we can do, don't you think? Thinking of  you, my quilting friends, as I stitch and dream!