The Giving Season

Quilt Overload

As I'm weeding and winnowing things in anticipation of our next move, I've come to realize that I have far more finished quilts than I can use.  (And we're not even talking about the ones waiting for bindings, or the ones waiting to be quilted.)

I have been thinking about people in my life, especially women, who have played important roles in my adult experience.  My goal is to let them know how I feel by giving them a quilt.

The first one was Sharon, a woman in our church who has served others, both professionally and personally.  She has been the main coordinator of our women's monthly breakfast, many times filling all the roles of host, cook, and worship leader on a single Saturday.

Sharon with Mary's Triangles

I was responsible for the devotion at the September breakfast where I planned to surprise Sharon with a quilt.  I tried to think of a way I could use this quilt made from Mary's Triangles to illustrate my topic, but I soon realized how few times Mary (mother of Jesus) is mentioned in the Bible!

Instead, I talked about scriptures that inspire action or reaction, like the story of the rich man who wouldn't give up what he owned in order to get to heaven.  This passage had moved me to go to Long Beach, MS with other church members to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, where we distributed a number of quilts made by guild members.

Mary's Triangles

Mary's Triangles is one of those easy, two-at-a-time piecing techniques that create complicated looking blocks.  I found a great tutorial on Pinterest here.  (It also occurred to me that one could use the first part of the process to make Clue 4 of On Ringo Lake, once you figure out what size to cut.  I'll work on that!)

With Sharon's quilt I started with a collection of 5" strips someone had given me to make the large triangles.  I added in squares and neutrals from my stash for the pieced triangles.  My barn-raising layout was inspired by (and limited by) the number of blocks I could make with the big triangle colors.  Having been to Sharon's house numerous times, I knew this was the perfect quilt for her.  And you can see from the picture that she was thrilled!

Sharing with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Hop over there to see what other quilters are whooping about this Friday.