Imperfectly Quilt Reflections

Originally published on Patreon, July 27, 2021

I started this quilt in December 2020. We were bracing ourselves for the winter, knowing that with the cold and the dark (and the drop in vitamin D) our isolation and grief would be harder to bear than in the summer. November 2020 was the most stressful month of my life to date and come December I was feeling like little more than a husk of myself. It is in moments of uncertainty that I always want to make a patterned quilt. I crave the order of the geometry. 

The top of this quilt came together quickly. I started with the materials- pulling out a selection of light and dark linens and leaving them on the studio floor for a few days so I could see them in all sorts of light. Tavi ran the iron while I pieced- this was our last collaboration before she went back to work. The whole thing came together like a dream- triangles to squares to, at last, a big star. The fabrics in this quilt are so varied- reclaimed garments, production scraps from friends, long held onto bits from my Oma's dwindling stash. When it all came together the finished top was so beautiful that it intimidated me and I tucked it away for a few months to get my nerve back. 

In June I was finally ready to begin quilting. I don't like to have too many quilts at the same step at the same time, so I had to finish some other pieces first. I made a video of basting the quilt on our kitchen floor, which you can watch here. It's funny- I was so nervous about quilting with red thread- I was sure it would bleed, even though I tested it. It turns out I should have worried about the purple linen from my Oma's stash instead- as that was the part that bled! Anyway, basting complete I began quilting and the work soared by. As fussy as linen can be to piece it is an absolute dream to stitch through and my needle ate the quilt right up.

It's rare for me to know where in the world a piece is going while I'm working on it. Usually in the process portion of a quilt's existence it's just me and the quilt, wrestling through space until it's suddenly a whole and complete piece ready for use. But there are occasional exceptions, and this quilt was claimed when it was just a top. I spent a lot of the quilting reflecting on the person it was going to and remembering times we spent together, especially as little kids. It was a pretty fun meditation :) 

I can't remember now how I originally planned to bind the quilt. It wasn't red- but once the stitches were in and a linen/cotton blend Christmas tablecloth had landed in my lap... it had to be red. When the quilt was finally finished and washed and spread out on the bed for inspection I sort of couldn't believe I made it. I am still a bit awed by it.