This past spring, I had my first pattern published in a magazine
(McCall’s Quilting, March/April 2018). It was quite an interesting experience:
the design started out as one of a pair of disappearing pinwheel quilts, done
in two colors; the magazine chose one (not both) of the designs and asked that
I re-make it using three colors instead of two. And none of the fabrics we ended
up with in the final product were colors I would have pulled off the shelf
myself! Still, it was lots of fun and very exciting to see my work in print at
the end of the process.
It was also very exciting when my friends Joline and Barbara
proposed that their quilt group, the Monday Morning Quilters of Brownville,
Maine, use my design as one of their group projects! They returned to my
original idea of two design options made with two colors, and allowed everyone
in the group to make her own decisions regarding what fabrics to use and which
design layout to follow. Barbara kept me up to date with periodic email
reports, and a few weeks ago I finally had the chance to see the end results in
person.
First, of course, we had to have lunch. (The Monday Morning
Quilters start their meetings in the morning, but despite their name, they keep
going until mid-afternoon!) I was invited to join them for a potluck lunch,
which was delicious – it is a truth universally accepted that quilters also
tend to cook pretty well! After sandwiches, salads, and TWO desserts made with
fresh berries, it was time for Show and Tell.
It always astonishes me to see how differently a group of
quilters will interpret the same pattern. Different fabric choices will give a
completely different feel to the design – changing the background fabric from a
white/cream neutral to a colored fabric, for instance (in one case blue, and in
another a pale green) changed the whole look of the quilt! Most of the ladies
went with the layout option that appeared in the magazine, but one chose my
alternate layout option, and still another completely rearranged the
disappearing pinwheel units for an entirely different look – and then added
some applique in the corner for additional pizzazz!
It was such an honor to have the Monday Morning Quilters
work with my design, and it was so much fun to see the finished results! I hope
they all enjoyed it as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing what they’ll
do next!
