Tuesday, August 21, 2018

The Monday Morning Quilters


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!