Mariner's Compass Challenge Quilt

For me, quilting is about the process and the story behind the quilt.

You have to love the process of quilting to make a quilt-it's very labor-intensive. People always ask "How much would a quilt like that cost?" You could figure on labor and materials, of course, but a quilt like this is hundreds of hours piecing the compasses, desiging the borders, hand sewing the applique, designing the quilting pattern and quilting. It involves lots of time picking fabrics, collecting fabrics, changing your mind. It's frustration and colorful language. It's also love and surprise. Now how can you put a price on that? You have to do this for the love of the process.

The story of this quilt starts with me wanting to make a Baltimore Album quilt in traditional colors of red, green and white. I began collecting small bits (fat quarters) of reds and greens, while I was working on my other projects. Then one day a friend brought in a quilt that featured a mariner's compass like the ones in the four corners. It was paper-pieced, a technique where you sew the fabric directly on a paper pattern then rip the paper off when you are done. This compass was from an old magazine, "The Foundation Piecer" April 2000. I tried one. I had trouble getting the points to match up. I sewing the pieces on wrong. It was very frustrating. So I did another one. And another. And another. Four compasses -- that's almost a quilt!

In the meantime, my Tuesday quilting group, Friends in Stitches, watched my progress. And egged me on with another, more complicated compass, thus the middle compass. I decided that the middle compass needed a little more punch. I had been admiring the Bella Bella quilts ("Bella Bella Quilts, Stunning Designs from Italian Mosaics" by Norah McMeeking) and decided to try my hand at designing a paper-pieced circle around the middle block. The Friends call that my flying swallows -- similar to the traditional flying geese pattern, just a bit smaller. I decided to set the five compasses with a bit of applique, I guess I was going back to the orignial Baltimore Album idea. I love tulips, so that was easy for me to design and build.

At that point, I had the middle of the quilt done, and Friends in Stitches proclaimed it beautiful and done, but I wasn't finished yet. I had picked up a book at a lawn sale, "A Quilter's Album of Blocks and Borders" by Jinney Beyer. It had a lovely sketch of an idea for a border. I created a paper-pieced pattern and off I went, cussing and sewing. When the border was done and on the quilt, I decided to add the yellow dots at the bottom of each green swag on the border just to break up that large piece of fabric and continue with the circle dots I put in the applique blocks.

So the top is done, now to quilt. Many people like to send their quilts out to have them professionally quilted on a long-arm machine. I actually like the process of quilting -- doodling with thread, even on a quilt as big as this. So I made a backing of various white-on-white fabrics, sandwiched the batting, and pinned the top, middle and back together. I usually start a big project like this by stitching along the seam lines -- known as stitching in the ditch. Then I started filling in all that white space with shadow quilting and swirly stippling. Amazing how the quilting changes the look of a quilt.

To finish the quilt, I thought I'd try a scalloped edge. There are some great sites that give you advice on how to make scalloped edging easier. The best advice was to have a box of chocolates on hand! When you make a scalloped edge you use a very thin binding (about 1 1/2 inches) and you have to ease the outer curve and stretch the inner curve.

I'm showing this quilt at the Quinobequin Quilter's Quilt Show March 26 & 27, 2010. I've also entered it in the Vermont Quilt Festival and Lowell Images.