Thursday, May 13, 2010

progressive quilt

When I moved across the country nearly fourteen years ago, I left behind some good friends. Really good friends. Of course I worried that I would never make any new ones. But it was only a tiny worry. Because I was a quilter. I knew that I would be able to find women (not so many men back then as now) who shared my love for sewing, fabric shopping and the latest quilting gadgets.

And I did. My closest friends are those I met in a quilt shop, or a class or small quilt group. I cherish them all.

One of the things quilters like to do is get together to sew. You might have a picture of an old-fashioned quilting bee. Add I-phones, and high tech sewing machines and digital cameras, and you've got the picture.

Seven of us decided to make a quilt for a new baby. Because of busy schedules, we decided to make a row by row quilt and then put the rows together to form the quilt. We talked about possiblilities and came up with a fabric that we could use to pull our colors from so the quilt would be coordinated. (It's the yellow one). Then we each went home to make a row.

Each used a technique that they liked to do. The maker of this one likes to paper piece.


This one enjoys hand embroidery.


Each added a little personality. The peace sign was my nod to the momma's interest in the sixties culture.



The result was fabulous. When the rows got returned and we started putting them together, we were really pleased at how good the quilt was coming along. Sort of reminds you of a progressive short story, doesn't it? The whole is often greater than the sum of its parts.

We sent it off to our favorite machine quilter, Jenny Michael.This week we got to met the baby and give him the quilt. His mother liked it, too.




5 comments:

Dru said...

The quilt is beautiful!

Peggy said...

Lovely quilt - what a wonderful way to enjoy a hobby with friends, and to make a memory for the hobbyists and the mom and babe.

Elisabeth Fuchs said...

What a beautiful quilt! Lucky baby!

Betty Hechtman said...

Lucky baby! I love the quilt and the way you all made it.

Isn't it hard to lug those big sewing machines around when you get together to sew?

Terri Thayer said...

It is sometimes a pain to pack up supplies and carry your sewing machine. Some of us have several machines, including a light one, just for that reason.

But it's always worth it.