4th of July Quilt // Finished Modern Quilt

2009-07-01 Burke Lake Park 012.jpg

This is one of my favorite "quilts," as much for the story behind it as for the finished product. In 2008, I was offered a week long contract job in Miami with my old company. My mother in law, the quilter, was gracious enough to watch Mr. L so I could go. She had planned to come for a trip prior to the job, so she just extended her trip. We asked her to do a two-part quilting class, and walk us through the project from start to finish. She picked a great and "completable" pattern, sent us the pattern, gave us tips for picking coordinating fabric, etc. We were definitely all newbies. We had 8 or so women show up for the first class--we learned the right way to press (not iron) our fabric, cut our fabric, some of us started sewing, etc. 5 of us attended the second class with our completed blocks, I believe--I have pictures somewhere.She told us if we finished the tops, she would take them home, quilt them, and send them back.  We all did! She demonstrated how to sew on the binding, gave us her favorite needle (which miraculously I still have), helped us finish our tops and piece the backs. And she quilted them all beautifully. It took me a while to finish the binding, but I love it. I am not a big holiday decorator, but I pull this out for the summer months, fourth of July in particular. Fast forward to today--four of the five of us have definitely caught the quilting bug. And as of this week, the last of the five has fabric for a quilt for her daughter and her soon to be baby boy! I think she's hooked. Hurrah! (The quilt does usually hang straight, the quilt holder, ah, he was easily distracted. But for a preschooler, quite helpful!)