My six year old sanguine and bubbly middle child has been anxiously waiting for me to finish her quilt. She watched me make one for her little brother and quickly put in her own order. You see her little feet poke out of the last blanket I made her so “It doesn’t fit anymore.” I have a bunch of baby quilts around the house made by three generations of quilters, but she is no baby.
I picked out the colors with her and her older sister in mind (her sister put in an order too, of course). They are much more bright and girly than I would choose for myself (but ones I still love), but that is who they are for. I chose a Amy Butler print as the starting point for the colors and prints. There is also a lot of Anna Maria Horner, a Kaffe Fassett and random stash fabrics.
I chose gray as the background color to help neutralize the brightness and busyness of the prints. Noelle has swooned at every step of me making this quilt. When when the geese were all made I let her help me arrange them. She loved this and took it very seriously.
This was my first flying geese quilt and my first quilt not using a pattern (well, that needed exact measurements anyway). It was the first time I tried machine quilting. I learned A LOT on this quilt. I made mistakes but I learned so much from each one. I learned I don’t like machine quilting a full-sized quilt. I started that way and then decided to create a pattern of machine quilting some rows (for time sake) and hand quilting the others.
I find hand quilting so much more enjoyable. It’s more time consuming but I like the final look more. I find it relaxing, cathartic and mindless. It’s a skill tha has been handed down to me from my grandma and mother and there is something very nostalgic and meaningful in that. There is a strong connection to my heritage, women in my life and past, and it is woven into every piece I’ve made.
The back was made from different grays. I always love the way the stitching comes through on the back.
She squealed when I said it was done and she could have it. These pictures are from that moment. How sweet is that?! That little finger in the picture above reminds me of hours of tracing my grandma’s hand stitches, wondering at lines and patterns and prints as I fell asleep.
I think she likes it.
deborah baron 