An ongoing part of this blog is the documentation of stuff I have handmade in the past, including the small collection of quilts I have made for my family. I have shown here before Tim’s quilt and Cassie quilt, now here is Sam’s quilt.
Like the others his quilt still lives permanently on his bed, but unlike the others has never had to be repaired and, apart from some fading of the colours, is in very good nick. This is probably due to three reasons; firstly probably because it is the newest of the three, but also possibly because Sam is not the sort of boy who played on his quilt like the other two did. He liked to hang out with his older brother and sister so would go and play on their beds instead! And lastly, because I had finally learned about finishing a quilt in the traditional way this one is actually finished off “properly”, if there is such a thing!
The design is a simple arrangement of squares of fabric that I chose because I liked them, and I thought the soft antique-y shades of yellow, red and blue suited Sam’s sunny but shy personality. The squares are enclosed and showcased in a grid of pale yellow strips. The quilt is bound in the traditional method with self-made bias binding. Each of the squares is bordered by hand-quilting. I embroidered my name in the bottom corner and the year in which I made it.
Every now and again I read on the internet about the “slow-sewing” movement; a trend that is about taking the time to appreciate the sewing process and work meticulously and carefully on getting a perfectly handcrafted result… Of course, nearly always such references are about a garment of some sort; a project that would take a few months at the most, whereas to the quilting fraternity (sorority) that time-frame is hilarious!
A handmade quilt is the very definition of slow sewing. Making someone a quilt is a labour of love, not a project to be taken by someone after a quick-fix result. Each of the quilts I have made has taken me a year to complete; no exaggeration. I have usually machine pieced the top so this can be put together in a few days, but the hand-quilting process takes at least a year. Anybody who has made a quilt will attest to this highly labour intensive hand-made craft, so I always have enormous respect for people who quilt. I don’t think I personally have the patience for another quilt (although I have at least one more, I think, to show here.) so I am pretty proud of these that I have made!
