My Favorite Quilt

Did any of you participate in the Spring 2009 Online Quilt Festival? It features the favorite quilts of nearly 600 bloggers! I got so wrapped up with the virtual quilt show that I missed the deadline for including my own post, but here’s the story of my favorite quilt.

In 1991, I could not have been busier. Our little family was outgrowing our first tiny house, which we’d decided to sell it by owner. At the same time, we purchased a lot and started construction on a brand new house about 30 miles away. Every waking moment was focused on our kids, a toddler and new baby, showing one house, checking on construction of the other, cleaning, packing, moving, and oh yeah, starting a new quilt!

My local guild sponsored a quilt challenge that year. I’d been too busy to attend the meeting where the project was proposed, but my friend, Laurie, just knew I wouldn't want to miss out on the fun. Unbeknownst to me, she signed me up as her challenge partner!

The two theme fabrics were a large cabbage rose and green stripe, both of which we had to use in the center block of our quilts.

I adapted a pattern from an 1870's quilt for my center block. The original (below), was made by Mary Parks Lawrence in Russellville, Kentucky. The design has several variations but is commonly called "Pot of Flowers." 

When my block was finished, I swapped with Laurie, who designed and stitched the first border of my quilt, as I did hers. We were limited to elements outlined in the challenge rules (rules and deadlines, just what I needed): four-patch, nine-patch, saw-tooth, dog-tooth, flying geese, appliqué sprays or vines.  

Laurie framed my flowery block with wonderful spiky points, a great counterpoint to the appliqué. Once a design element was used, it couldn’t be repeated, so I appliquéd floral sprays and vines as my final border.

I hand quilted a 1/2" grid in the center block and a 1" grid in the outer border.

Cherry Challenge

44” x 44”

1993

We hung the finished quilt in our living room so it's the first thing you see when entering our home. After 16 years on the wall, it's become gently faded but still serves as a reminder to meet life's challenges with beauty and grace.

Feeling Wonky

This is MS Awareness Week, and many crafters, quilters, and bloggers with MS have been asked to share their stories. particularly the impact it To illustrate some of my early symptoms, I pulled out a quilt I was working on just before my diagnosis.
  here's the quilespecially how it impacts their creative endeavors. I did one better, I dug out the I was working on when I first began experiencing symptoms

Block Party

37" x 51"

machine pieced and quilted

© Diane Burdin, 1997

The mid 1990's were a particularly stressful time for me. Since stress aggravates MS, I’m not surprised that it lead to my first serious exacerbation, a curious numbness and tingling in my arm that lasted for months. Over time, other unusual symptoms began to appear: fatigue, dizziness, depression, all of which my doctor attributed to stress. His advice? Slow down. Make a concerted effort to relax. See a therapist!

Meanwhile, some friends had organized a quilt challenge. I joined in, hoping the creative exercise would help me relax. Typical of these design challenges, the theme fabric was a hard to use print,  a wild "op art" pattern that made me dizzy if I looked at it too long. That became the theme of my quilt -- feeling "wonky."

It was the perfect opportunity to try Gwen Marsten's liberated piecing techniques for constructing wonky quilt blocks. I started with houses:

My first attempt wasn't nearly wonky enough.

Now I was getting the hang of it. No right angles here!

I tried a church with stained glass windows and a wonky sun.



Here's our house, with William peeking out the upstairs window.

Once I'd made enough blocks for a little neighborhood, I arranged and rearranged them like pieces of a puzzle. If a block was too small, I added to it. Several house blocks, for example, were enlarged by adding trees. If a block was too big, I simply trimmed it down.

For interest, I scattered bits of theme fabric throughout the quilt and also included other types of blocks -- all "liberated" versions of traditional quilt patterns: log cabin, nine patch, flying geese and stars. 

The thing about making a quilt this way is, you never have more than a general idea of how it will look when finished. Much like Multiple Sclerosis, it's hard to predict the course it will take. When faced with a challenging fabric or a challenging symptom of MS, the strategies for coping are much the same -- add a little something, trim a little something, adapt, change the plan. Chances are, you'll still create something beautiful.