For many Christmas’s, my five siblings, and I, rotated through our names and each made a hand crafted gift for another. I almost always make a quilt. I had previously made three (sadly no photo of the first…) for this brother and while always trying to outdo the last one. I was struggling to come up with the perfect idea, for him, this time.
Perfectly Imperfect quilt story
It’s always a challenge to create something special for my oldest brother an all-around very talented person. He retired from the Air Force and while he is currently very successful in this third career one thing remains constant. He is steadily working on our family’s genealogy trying to further unearth each line. One we have struggled with is our Cherokee Indian line. When I saw this design in the October 2020 issue of Modern Quilt Guild. I knew I could make it my own!
I worked with Elizabeth, of Elizabeth Bolton Studio, which sadly is no longer in business. She was a dream to work with, helping me choose JUST the right colors of Pure Solids by Art Gallery Fabrics for my project. Not just any red and white would work. Ruby and White Linen were the perfect ones. I expected to have to prewash the red a dozen times to release all the excess dye. I was pleasantly surprised at the minimal amount of dye loss.
It’s always a tough decision to decide which batting to go with. I actually started hand-quilting this one with Quilter’s Dream Request. It is a lovely cotton batting with beautiful drape and a dream to hand quilt. I wasn’t getting the look I wanted.
Frustrated, I removed my quilting, batting and backing and re-sandwiched it with this equally lovely wool. Hobb’s Tuscany Wool created the perfect loft, exactly what I was looking for for this quilt.
Most all my quilts take at least one road trip. This one went to Mackinac Island for a long weekend. Then it spent a lovely week in an Airbnb in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan overlooking Lake Superior. It was the perfect cozy cover for hand quilting in Northern Michigan in October.
I used Your Vote Counts in White/Red by Benartex which I think made the perfect backing for a nod to my brother’s military service.
As always, every finish is my new favorite. ❤️
Proud to be an American
For my brother, Ray
A cross cultural quilt blending our Indigenous heritage with his honorable military service.
Christmas 2021
Machine pieced, hand quilted
Hobbs Tuscany wool batting
Solar Flare by Alderwood Studio
75″ x 75″
Sewfrench 