Dianne's Quilt Finished

I have finished the quilt for Dianne, the wife of Jeff's dying partner, Ken. I had the hardest time trying to decide what to do for her, and finally decided to go for this sampler quilt, inspired by Alex Anderson's beginning quilting book. I have actually never done a sampler before, and ordinarily wouldn't think to give one as a gift, but something about the variety appealed to me for this particular quilt. This sounds sappy, I suppose, but I feel like the variety is appropriate in a quilt that celebrates a life, and is intended as a comfort to someone who shared that life. I showed it to my mom and she pointed to the single Friendship Star block (middle of the 2nd row from the top) and said "that's Ken." Made me cry. Anyway, I hope Dianne likes it, and derives some comfort from it somehow.

I try to make sure that I try something new with every quilt I make, and while none of these blocks are difficult by any means, most of them were new to me. I am also particularly proud of the fact that I found quite a few fabrics in my stash to round out this quilt. As mentioned in a previous post, I purchased several fabrics just a few weeks ago in Big Bear, envisioning that the whole quilt would come from these fabrics. But it quickly became apparent that I needed more variety, and was thrilled to find that my gradually growing stash had some gems in it that matched with the overall tone of this quilt.

It's finished now except for the label on the back. I haven't labeled most of my quilts, because I don't have a very good system worked out for labeling yet. (Any suggestions?) But I feel like I should probably label this one. But other than that, it's done. Here it is:



As I mentioned in my last post, inspiration and momentum continue to strike, and I am beginning work on my next quilt. Here is a sample of one quarter of one block I am working on for baby Katie.