A long long time ago I made enough quilt blocks for a log cabin quilt. And then my interests moved on to knitting and those quilt blocks just sat. And sat. Last winter I gave those blocks to my friend Lois and I paid her to put them together and finish the quilt for me. I got it back in May and I’m finally sharing the photos with you today. (These photos might be working clicking on and enlarging. Just sayin.)
This is a barn raising design and I am so pleased with how it turned out – the stark contrast between the colored fabrics and the neutrals is just what I wanted.
The fabrics are a variety of colors, black, brown, purple, and green.
Red centers are traditional for a log cabin quilt as the red is supposed to represent the heart of the home. These red squares are leftover from a Civil War dress that I made for Hannah that she wore when she was 7 and we were doing a lot of reenacting. That dress was adorable and she was known through the Union camp as the little girl in the red dress. My point? Lots of memories tied up in that fabric and I’m so glad I was able to use it and preserve it this way.
The back is a tone-on-tone blue which goes nicely with that red binding.
Lois did a marvelous job with the quilting. She has a long arm quilting machine and I love this modified feather and shell design she used. I think the swirls are a perfect match with the squares, they really soften up the look of the entire quilt and keep the eye moving.
The quilt now hangs out in our little den and the other morning I was in there reading and it was chilly enough that I pulled this quilt over me. It felt great, just the way a handmade quilt should feel.
I almost didn’t share this post today as I thought I should write something commemorating the events of eighteen years ago. But then I reconsidered and thought about what a quilt like this represents: warmth. comfort. home. love. family. And I decided to go ahead and post it because on this day in particular I’m thinking a lot about the comfort of home and the love of family and how precious those things are and how easily they can be taken away.
Let’s not ever forget.