Love in a patchwork quilt
I have an incredibly talented mother. She’s always working on a dozen beautiful projects, and all of her children, friends and relatives have evidence of her soaring creative spirit on display in their homes. She finally finished this lovely Redwork Quilt she made for herself, and I just have to share it with you all so you can see that I come from good stock!
Here’s the full quilt:
Here’s a patch detail:
The pattern is from the book Learn to do Redwork, published by American School of Needlework, with a few changes.
It’s funny how I’ve started to enjoy sewing after all these years of insisting I’m a knitter, weaver type. I still enjoy working with fiber, but something about the neatness of sewing appeals to my desire to bring order into my life. The clean edges, the straight lines, the crisp feeling of pressed cotton running under my finger tips brings a feeling of deep satisfaction that I’ve only experienced before when I’ve either written something I thought was good, or prepared a meal that satiated all of my senses.
I’ve always admired my mom (Carolyn) and my Aunt Ginny, both incredible quilters. You should see the Yo-yo quilt my aunt made for her bed. It’s like a watercolor painting. I’ll beg her for a photo to post soon. But while I admired them, I also felt intimidated by their abilities. I have a hard time sewing a straight line when it’s even drawn on the fabric. But recenlty they’ve been sharing tips and secrets with me, and I now have a 1/4″ seam presser foot, and it’s changed my sewing life. Now I can fully enjoy the fact that I’m following in their footsteps in my own way because my quality is improving. I no longer feel like a failing student with a thick head that nothing penetrates.
Here’s the amazing quilt Mom made for me and Chris out of like, 150,000 tiny rectangles of the most luscious flannel on earth. This quilt has kept us so warm this winter! It will look so gorgeous in the room once the red rug and the nasty wallpaper are gone. I have no idea how she managed to make a King size quilt out of that many pieces and not have some glaring mistake popping up out of the middle of it. Like I did with my 9 patch doll quilt. Or like the lap blanket I knit for her that came out backwards—the stitches running in the wrong direction and so wide it made up for it not being very long, but did nothing to help how very wrong it looks.
And here’s one of the quilts she made for Lila, also flannel:
There’s another one she made Lila, but that’s in the laundry right now. I’ll take a picture of that another day, and of the ones my Aunt Ginny has made for us.
"Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon?"
~Hal Borland
March 7th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
Wow, these are sooooo beautiful.
I couldn’t do this sort of thing to save my life which makes me appreciate even more! Thanks for sharing your mom’s accomplishments, Kelly. They really are an inspiration!!
March 7th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Your mom is of unbelievable talent. I made a scrappy patchwork quilt (6″ squares) for our bed, and I thought it was going to kill me. Hers are stunning.
March 7th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
Wow! I love quilts, I just have never tried my hand at them. So much talent!
March 7th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Those are awesome. I am in awe of anyone who can quilt because I have yet to figure out how to cut fabric straight. You’re lucky to have such a talented and caring mom.
March 8th, 2006 at 7:33 am
I read this, see the pics, remember how awed I;ve been to see them in person . . . I haven’t been crocheting at all this winter . . . but I know that I will eventually end up one of those little old ladies crocheting by the fire . . . and I love all the handcrafts you do . . . so gorgeous . . . her able hands indeed . . .
March 8th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
I love that redwork quilt. Quilting–It’s on my list.
March 9th, 2006 at 8:37 am
I love quilts. I really really love them. I hate how it is impossible to sound as sincere as you really are online. Let me try again. I appreciate quilts and admire the artistry involved in make them. I feel like “… a failing student with a thick head that nothing penetrates” when it comes to sewing. This might be partly why I am so awed by quilts. As soon as I read that line in your post I laughed, it was like “Aha! That is EXACTLY how I feel when it comes to sewing.
I am glad to hear that it is possible to move past that stage.
March 15th, 2006 at 10:29 am
Kelly,
You indeed have a very talented Mom. I know because I worked in the same building as her for quite a few years and saw many a project in various stages. All of which I were just as lovely as the previous one.
You are so lucky and so very talented yourself.
Roz
April 17th, 2006 at 4:51 am
Hi Kelly,
your mothers Redwork quilt is gorgeous!
December 27th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Buy tramadol…
cheap tramadol, buy tramadol, tramadol, cheapest tramadol, 50 mg tramadol…
February 25th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Could you possibly post the photo of your Aunt’s watercolor yo yo quilt? I’ve never made one before, but I’d love to try and also be inspired by a beautiful quilt.
April 19th, 2007 at 4:50 am
would you be able to get the satges that she made it in because i am making one in textiles for one of my major projects at the minute and i have no information on hoe=w to make it would you be able to help me please
thenk you i really like them all
thank you once again amyxx
April 19th, 2007 at 4:56 am
i ment
would you be able to get the stages that your mum or auntie made the quilts made out of patches because i am making one in my major project at the minute and i do not have any information on how to make it or the steps you have to do to making one, please can you help me thank you.
i really like the colourful one with the stars.
amy xxx