A young friend of mine recently graduated from West Point, and his mother made him a quilt to commemorate his achievement. The fabric line is “Kansas Winter” which Kathy purchased about ten years ago. And the quilt pattern, “Perpentual Motion,” is published in the Spring/Summer 2019 issue of Quilt Sampler magazine. The pattern was designed by Lou Shafer and Jan Bressler of JanniLou Creations.
My gift was the quilting. I texted Josh pictures of four pantographs that I thought would compliment the quilt. He chose “Bell Blossom” designed by Hermione Agee and distributed by Urban Elementz. The star shaped blossom gives a nod to the patchwork stars in the quilt and echos the lily design in the outer border. (Excellent choice, Josh!)
Another choice involved thread color. I generally like “Magnifico,” a shiny, non-metallic gold, for quilts with a Civil War feel. However, Kathy and I felt that an old gold of “So Fine!” was a better choice. It, too, is polyester but looks like cotton, so it blended better with the muted colors of the Kansas Troubles fabrics.
Because of the extensive patchwork, the muted colors of similar value, and the blendy gold thread color, it is difficult to see the pantograph design on the front of the quilt. But this subliminal quilting adds texture that invites a closer look.
Congrats Josh for your achievements, and all the best as you move to your first duty station . . . with this quilt, a warm memory of home, tucked into your duffel bag.
I’ve been adding “Shoo Fly” blocks to my collection. The bright triangles add zip to the less bright “Four Patches.” It’s fun to see them lined up on the design wall! In the final quilt design, I’d like an even distribution of colors, so arranging the blocks in rows by the color of the triangles, helps me see what colors are needed.
