Zoe
90” x 90”
Preferring the background to the spotlight, yet refusing to be outshone, Zoe is a strong woman. She will always work hard, with or with out credit, but never dismiss her. She was there at the beginning of the fight and is still there, supporting those with more energy for the battles. Quick to hug you, a twinkle in her eye, and just the right touch when you didn’t even know you needed it. She is the mom who knows you better than you know yourself, even though she never had kids of her own. Not really an option for her, truth be told. Now, though, she is mom to all her girls.
A long time ago Carolyn Friedlander convinced me to try applique. She promised me that I would like it with the right tools, patterns, and techniques. She was not wrong. I know the basics, even took a class or two as a beginner quilter, but it never stuck. What I didn’t like about it was that it was so much prep before I could even get to sewing. At least, the way that I was taught required a lot of prep. But Carolyn’s way is straight from cutting to basting (which is sewing) to stitching. Plus, her patterns are modern and gorgeous. I started with her Alturus pattern and learned a lot.
Over 10 years ago I started using her Park pattern to teach applique here in town. Park is a great pattern for beginners because it has inside and outside corners, curves and straight lines, and looks cool. To make my initial samples and the blocks I used in classes I chose from a stack of fabric I’d sent to Lisa Flower, which she painted. Quite quickly, I decided to keep making blocks. Inspired by my initial pull sent to Lisa I added fabrics as I went.
Somewhere along the way, one of my husband’s cousins moved to the Province. We would visit in Edmonton and they would visit here. Quite quickly, it was clear that her girlfriend was definitely going to be her wife one day. I don’t remember exactly when, but I decided that these Park blocks would be a wedding quilt for them when they did get married.
The top was finished in 2017, more or less. It took me another year or two to trim the fabric from behind the applique so there was no shadowing. It’s always a nervewracking process. Then the quilt sat and sat. I came across the Suzy Quilts wide back at a local sale and matched it to the quilt. All of this before the wedding happened. That came in 2020, a small pandemic wedding.
Yes, I did just finish the quilt.
The fabrics include so many favourites and such a yummy colour combination. I enjoyed pairing fabrics and then figuring out a layout that works. It’s bold, with the odd quiet moment. Some blocks are very high contrast and some are a bit confusing. In pairs, though, the combinations are always interesting.
It’s always a little tough to quilt an applique quilt. Or, at least, to decide how to quilt an applique quilt. Or is that just me? Rather than outline the shapes I went for straight lines in a grid, each line 2” apart. It’s easy and will be more than good for holding everything together and still be cuddly.
I went with a great contrasting binding. The ladies’ house has a lot of green accents so I decided to add that colour to the quilt. Thankfully, it works well with the existing fabrics.
In all honesty, I don’t know why I procrastinated so much with this quilt. It took less time to make the 25 applique blocks than it did to turn the top into a finished quilt! (Aside from the two months I lost quilting when my machine broke and went in for service.) Oh well, it is done now and I am already getting photos of the family (yes, they have a kid now too) snuggled. That’s all that really matters.
And now, I’m already making more blocks! When moving the studio I discovered a couple more blocks. Leftover class samples? Regardless, I realized that with these blocks and a few more additions I could make a small version of the quilt. The little guy of the family only wanted a baby doll for Christmas so I am making him a quilt just like his Mamas’ for his baby.
