This quilt is special. For many reasons. It was made for my friend Jessica who is raising money for her trip to work with children in Africa. I wanted to take a few pictures before I ship it off to her tomorrow.
It is not the largest or most intricate quilt I have ever made. It is however, my favorite.
I broke virtually every quilting rule there is and loved every minute of it. The construction is simple squares in vivid colors. I quilted in random lines. Some are straight. Some are curved. There are single lines and double lines. There is no pattern. No rhyme or reason. When I look at it I think of the Pick Up Sticks I used to play with as a child. I didn't draw them in place first. I didn't measure and remeasure and measure a third time just to be safe. I just went with what felt right.
It is bright and bold. I didn't use designer fabrics. I used colors and patterns that made me think of Jessica. She has a bright exuberant personality. She loves rainbows.
It is not the type of blanket you hang on the wall to display like art. It is the one you throw in the car. Take to the beach. The park. The one you throw across your lap while drinking your coffee on a chilly morning.
I don't know where this will end up. Whether it will be loved or tossed in the back of a closet. I'm ok with that. I think it is kind of cool.
It is small. The size of a couch throw. When I finished sewing together the blocks, it looked big. So I trimmed the sides. Then, on a whim, decided to use what I had trimmed off, for the binding. No bias for me. No perfectly cut strips of binding sewn in a neat diagonal.
The entire process was freeing. Liberating. I didn't follow the rules. I didn't do what I was supposed to. This is very un-Holly.
In the end, the quilt I made is not going to win any awards at the county fair. It is full of imperfections. There is even, GASP, a pucker on one of the yellow squares. It is perfectly imperfect and I couldn't be prouder.
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