"Always in Bloom" was my seventh quilt, a gift for my mother's 70th birthday. It was started in June of 2002 and finished in July of 2002. It was an experimental effort that was a cross between kaleidoscope (Paula Nadelstern) / stack-n-whack (Bethany S. Reynolds) and puff quilt methodology. The same fabric triangle was cut 6 times, and then the wedges were sewn together for a kaleidoscope effect. The fabric used was a bright medium print with a variety of colors, flowers, and leaves. I returned to the fabric store 3 times to purchase more of this fabric in order to have 6 repeats available to make enough patches for a twin-sized bed quilt. In all my fabric quests, I had never found a bolt that lends itself more to this type of project. The variety of hexagonal blocks that could be created from this particular fabric seemed endless. Some blocks ended up being primarily green, some white, some pink, some red, some blue, and some purple. I bought a bolt of leafy green solid Wal-Mart special for $2.00 a yard to use as the background, backing, and binding. I appliquéd each hexagon block onto the background and stuffed it before closing. This gave each block a 3-dimensional effect of a blooming kaleidoscope of flowers. I machine quilted around each hexagon to attach the top, the batting, and the backing. Because the blocks were stuffed, it was impossible to sew the background and backing taut without having a professional setup.
2 comments:
So puffy, fluffy and blooming beautiful!
I bet you're Mom fell in love with it.
Does she quilt, too?
Twinville - Interestingly enough, my mother does not quilt. I learned to sew in a seventh grade classroom, and got interested in quilting as an adult through magazines. My grandmother taught me how to knit, but that's the extend of handy crafts being passed down in my family.
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