]t is October already. Where did the summer go? I am back home in New Hampshire. The Maine house is closed for the winter. I expect that it will take over a week to organize the combining of houses. Sewing supplies are in the sewing room, but not where they belong. The pantry supplies were just placed in the pantry cupboard. I haven’t sewed or quilted for over a week. The organizing will have to wait until I spend a few days sewing.
I decided to take a few minutes to change the quilt on the wall behind the sofa. The quilt for the summer was an easy one with simple blocks.
The new quilt was made in a class that I took in Vermont many years ago. The teacher told us what colors to use. They were out of my range of colors. When the quilt was finished, I didn’t like it. A few years later, I won a certificate for long arm quilting. I didn’t know the quilter or her work, so I decided to send this quilt to her. When I received it back, it was beautiful. She made the quilt come alive. Now, I like it very much.
My Maine quilt Guild has a challenge every year. This year, we set aside two magazines. A number was drawn. We could use that page on either magazine to make what was on the page or use it for inspiration. Page 30 was chosen. Page 30 on the first magazine was just written ads. The second magazine had a beautiful quilt.
Several years ago, I was flying from Salt Lake City to Arizona. As we flew over the canyons, I looked out the window and remarked that I would like to make a quilt in those colors someday. The quilt on page 30 had all the canyon colors.
I liked the way that the teal colors melted from light to medium to dark. After I figured out how to make the block, I decided to paper piece all the blocks. It was difficult to find the right colors and mine are a bit darker than the original. The center light orange strips are quilted in a hoop. All the rest is free motion quilted.
I was reading some older magazines that a friend had given me. In the May/June 2008 Fons and Porter Love Of Quilting magazine, I found an article by Gerald E Roy. It used a lot of half square triangles. I had cut a lot of scraps in 2 1/2″ squares and wondered what size they would finish if I made them in the accordion method. They finished at 2″ so I decided to reproduce the old quilt in this size.
The quilt has 100 nine patch blocks. Each block has three light, three dark and three half square triangles made with light and dark. I’m glad that I didn’t think that I would need 300 half square triangles, 300 light blocks and 300 dark blocks when I started. I still have lots of 2 1/2″ squares left. I may use them as beginners and enders to use them up.
It was so good to get back to piecing and finishing this quilt.
Have a great day and happy quilting.
Miss Molly quilts 