This quilt was totally unplanned (and secret–I’m excited to finally get to share!).
When I signed up for the April Sewtopia retreat in Denver all I really wanted to do was go and enjoy open sew time while working on my baby girl’s Geranium dresses. I didn’t even bring fabric for Lizzy House’s mystery quilt class because I had zero plans to start a quilt. But when I got there and heard Lizzy’s heartfelt and vulnerable speech about what quilting means for her–basically: love–the message so deeply inspired and connected with my own heart. (Plus I loved the pattern she was instructing on, a modern iteration of the classic square and compass quilt.)
So while everyone else got started on cutting their already-brought-with-them fabrics, my unprepared self headed over to the Pink Door Fabrics pop-up shop for some goods. The second I saw black yarn-dyed Essex with GOLD SPARKLE, I: (1) fell down dead, (2) was resuscitated, and (3) knew exactly who this quilt would be for. Stacy is my best friend of over 20 years, she was my maid of honor, she’s about to become god mother to our little baby, and she is 100% gold sparkle. She turned 30 this year, too–a quilt for her was simply meant to be.
So the sparkle Essex became my background fabric and I chose super fun, bubble-gummy Cotton + Steel prints for the rest of the quilt (spoiler alert: aside from being all gold-sparkly, Stace is equally fun-bubble-gummy). I was pretty full of myself while sewing this quilt because I knew without question how totally perfect it would all be for her. I just kept shrugging smugly and bragging to myself about how “she’s going to freaking love this so much. NO BIG DEAL.”
After piecing the top, which was my first experience piecing curves and SO fun, I sent this to my favorite long-armer, Susan of Modern Prairie Quilting, to do her magic for me yet again. We chose an animal stripe quilting design for this one and both LOOOOVE the result.
Here’s a pretty cool comparison of one of the “compasses” before and after quilting:
Yummy yummy!
The sparkle is hard to capture on camera but you can see it pretty well here, along with the label I remembered to sew on!
My wackadoo photography assistants paused some very significant bike-riding activities to offer their services, provided I allow a funny picture in exchange. A quilter always pays her debts,* so here it is:
*Dear husband (and whoever else lives willfully with a deep void in their lives): this is a Game of Thrones reference.
Not to brag, but I was spot-on in my earlier prediction: Stacy loves her quilt. And because she knows me and what quilts mean to me she’s in a unique position to truly appreciate the love in this gift.
Now wish me luck on my biggest love adventure yet. Next time we meet I’ll be typing with my baby girl by my side and sharing pictures of her little quilt in action. Oh, my…
