Bloggers' Quilt Festival

I'm participating in Amy's online quilt festival, where the brief is to post about a favourite quilt.

I made this quilt in a weekend class taken by extraordinary Masterton quilter Katharine Morrison in 2002 (I remember sewing the binding on 6 months later whilst I wated for D to come out of shoulder surgery...); it's called *The Bloke's blanket* and was my first true introduction to improv quilting. The idea was to use all your randomly shaped and sized scraps, to piece together blocks that you'd then trim and join, with some random use of sashing. The primary problem for me was that at this point I'd only made 2 quilts, and my scrap stash was a little light, and the pieces were rather large. I think I spent 2/3 of that first day of class cutting my scraps up! (I've since made up for that, several times over)

It's quilted heavily with parallel lines about 1/4" apart, which I love, but certainly wouldn't try on anything bigger than this, it was hard to stay patient...

Why do I love it? About 3 years ago, it stopped being a throw quilt and became our picnic quilt...it gets dragged out and about and every picnic meal we've had since then - on beaches in Rarotonga and the Seychelles, (and even Ohope Beach in NZ!), on our front decks overseas and our lounge floor at home, this is where we gather. I have such lovely memories of this quilt's place in the rhythm of our family life. It's been washed more times than I can count, is showing some real fading in spots - from both the washing and the drying and the bleaching under the sun, and isn't often grubby-fingermark-free (see bottom of quilt in picture - we'd just finished a picnic lunch inside on yet another cold and miserable rainy day and there had been some warm milo spillage! - may as well see it the way it is) I love all that this quilt stands for, and yes, it's in the washing machine again!

Comments

[Kelley]

The quilt is lovely...but I am more in love with the kids that stand on the back of the couch like cats! :)

[Zlaty]

Very pretty quilt! You did an amazing job!

Happy sewing!

[Raisin'Cookies]

What a great quilt! I love how much you use it as well; perfect combination of art and function.

[janet]

Very interesting quilt, and darling quiltholders!

[Jolie]

Thanks for the lovely comments - Cole was quite tickled I hadn't noticed he was still wearing his gumboots and clambering about on the back of the couch with my permission!