1876 Centennial Quilt

The excitement is building for one group of local quilters that will soon see our quilts on exhibit in Houston ....

Original EMC 1876

It's been quite a long time coming to this point as the pilot group began our quilts in October of 2015!  The collection of quilts, along with the original inspiration quilt will be on display as a special exhibit in Houston at the upcoming Quilt Festival.  There will be a group of maker's attending Quilt Festival and camping out with the exhibit to represent the quilts, so please stop by and say hello.  Anne Dawson and Karen Alexander from Lopez Island have teamed up to make this exhibit happen filling out forms and tirelessly campaigning to get these quilts on display - gathering details, refining patterns, cheerleading slowpokes and even sourcing an anonymous sponsor to help get our quilts on display.  What a great team! 

Finale photo MLG 2018

Finale photo MLG 2018

Close Up MLG 2018

My version recreates a lot of what I initially loved about the original quilt.  For starters, the poison green and solid red setting fabrics were a no brainer, ever since the first photo I saw of EMC.  Other decisions were made to either recreate or deviate from the original inspiration depending on what caught my eye as I chose fabrics for each block and setting element.  The quilting was provided by The Country Quilter who did a phenomenal job and was willing to work with my request to keep the machine quilting as close to the style of the original hand-quilting as possible.  Right down to light thread on solid red fabric....a big shout out to Nikki for getting this to the finish line for me! 

Of course two road trips to Spokane for baseball games helped when it came to the binding and burying of threads.  Darling Hazel, however, has sharp teeth, so there was the binding repair that happened simultaneously with the final stitches!  And in the end, with a community of helpers my quilt was bound and labeled and photographed with a few days to spare and was promptly shipped off to Houston. 

We also hosted Anne Dawson and a group of quilter's here at the shop and their quilts are beginning to make the rounds at some of our local quilt shows too, so watch for more of these labors of love to appear now and again as they make their way across the finish line and out into the world!   I even got to help a customer who is just starting the journey select some fabric choices last week, so the quilt lives on. 

Two Thimbles Class WIP

You can learn more about the project here on Anne's website, and if you're in Houston...take a moment to enjoy all the quilts, including the original and all the amazing variations from the pilot group!  Congratulations to all!