Mom's Quilt

In the late 1990's I went to the Houston International Quilt Show and took a class on Hand Piecing given by Candy Goff. She had one of her hand pieced quilts selected as One of the Best 100 American Quilts of the 20th Century. Her class and handouts were brilliant, and her explanations of how to hand piece and make and mark templates went far in improving my techniques. Up to this point, my quilting was very basic. The project she taught us on was a color wheel.

About this time, I also began to watch Simply Quilts on cable TV. I am almost certain that the block for my Mom's quilt came from one of these shows. I don't remember the name of the block, but it is pretty basic, sashed, and then bordered. Flying Geese, and Squares in a square. There are at least three different color combinations used. I think most of the fabric for this quilt came from the quilt show in Houston. I didn't have a car then, so I know my shopping was limited. By this time I had graduated to an Olfa Mat and rotary cutter. I remember I carried the blocks around in baggies, and worked on the quilt in the Bahamas the spring of 2000. I remember that clearly, because a piece of the quilt block I was working on blew overboard at Highburn Key while we were in the marina ridding out a storm. I was sitting in the cockpit with pieces spread out around me on the combing rail, and the wind caught one piece and off it sailed. Luckily I had extra.

Mom loves her quilt, uses it in the winter and will often call me and say, guess where I am sitting and what is in my lap?