WARM WISHES AGAIN

Warm wishes quilt pattern has come to my rescue again.  I needed a quilt in a hurry.

http://www.quiltmaker.com/patterns/details.html?idx=5185

(See blog titled "Three Wishes")

36"X36"

Monday, I learned I was going to be attending a funeral at the end of the week.  My Uncle on my father's side passed away.  In this age of jobs taking us all over the world our family has been dispersed world wide too.  We moved away from the family home area when I was 6 years old and moved several times after that.  My parents ended up living over 1200 miles from their birth place.  Love and caring was there but the physical being wasn't.  I am the oldest of 6 siblings.  Only three of us were able to get to know the aunts and uncles on a personal basis.  My other siblings only met them a couple of times in the last 40 years. 

I will be driving down early Friday morning and returning in the evening (I am the only sibling with in shouting distance who won't have to hop a plane.)  It has been at least 7 years since I have made the trip to my birth place.  The last time was because my father's oldest brother had passed.  This fact saddens me.  I have kept in touch with the family and see one of my cousins about once a year.  Getting together with the whole family though has been difficult.  I have dozens of excuses and they all seem pitiful at this time.  What amazes me is how when we do get together as a family it is as if no time has passed at all.  The biggest obstacle is the exchanging of all the family doings and accomplishments we have missed out on. Everyone is talking at once.

I was thinking about what I could take which would be a remembrance to his children and grandchildren.  Something to jog their memories later of the people who will be there celebrating the life of their Dad.  Years ago I made a harvest quilt and gave it to my parents with an indelible pen .  The sashings were white.  I told mom to use it each Thanksgiving and have the people sign their name and date.  Even if they had attended the year before and had signed.  (The backing is muslin, when the front fills up, then the back can be signed.) This is that quilt, you can see some of the siggies all ready there.  This is a full size bed quilt.  The blocks are 12 1/2 inches unfinished, the sashing is 2 1/2 inches unfinished.:

I didn't have time to do an involved quilt like this and thought the warm wishes came together so quickly I'll try it.  First I had to wash the muslin, while it was drying I started to plan the quilt. I wondered if the pattern would work as a table topper.  The pattern worked at 5 blocks wide and 5 blocks high. 

Choosing fabric for the table topper/wall hanging was difficult.  I have no idea what my Uncle's favorite color was.  Except for his being an electrician I did not know much about him.  I know he loved to play cards.  What was his favorite card game, I have no idea.   My stash  doesn't contain card playing fabrics, nor of the electrical venue.  Remember I need to raid the stash, not having the time to shop.

I decided to use fabrics which represent the moment.  Right in front of me is my stack of star fabrics.  When I began quilting I was bitten by the fabric hoarding bug, I bought a 1/4 yd of every star based fabric I could find.  A light bulb went on.  He was the star in his children's lives.  His soul was now among the stars in heaven.  I started pulling star fabrics in the browns, golds and blacks, choosing ones that had no obvious stark white. I chose the colors because they were neutral colors on the masculine side.  I chose muslin for background because it holds the ink better than other fabrics (at least that is what I have found).  When I put fabrics with stark white in them next to the muslin it seemed to clash.

When I finished the top it was time to figure should border or not.  I decided to use a dark border strip to frame it.  The 2 inch measurement of the sashing strip worked great.   I auditioned the top for 6 inch wide outer border or 3 inch wide outer border.  The 3 inch measurement, which is the larger sashing measurement, worked best. 

I loaded the quilt top on my short arm Gamill and picked a stippling design pantograph.  This topper was not just a stash breaker, I was able to use a batting scrap, rather than cut into my roll.  I didn't have enough muslin washed for the backing.  I found a pastel blue on blue mini plaid in the stash.  It was perfect.  After quilting I trimmed the quilt and used a black binding with blue stars.  I applied the binding by machine and finished it with blind stitching by hand on the back. (Yes, I did remembered to place a label on the back, attached under the binding.)

I hope this "warm wishes" quilt will bring many warm memories in the years to come,

softening the tears of the moment. 

I wish everyone could have a warm quilt of their own.

Thanks for stopping by.