Hey Everyone, welcome back to Story Time Monday.
My first commissioned quilt made for Michael’s best friend, Tom, in Yellowknife. To be exact, the owner of the quilt was actually Tom’s wife, Elaine, as he had me make it for her birthday a few years ago. I love this quilt and I know Elaine does as well because she has told me so. It is perfect for those long, dark, cold winter days/nights in Yellowknife – in the thick of winter there is only 5 hours of sunlight.
Hibernation can be a part of life in Yellowknife and why not have a beautiful quilt to hibernate under?
Tom basically gave me carte blanche when it came to the design, colour and fabric. This was a bit frightening especially when you don’t know the person you are making the quilt for very well. I did manage to get out of Tom that Elaine did not like yellow. Not a problem as I was not so keen on yellow back then either but if you notice in my quilts lately I have been using yellow. It has grown on me in the past few years.
[Editor’s Note: when Jen says she wasn’t so keen on yellow back in the day, let me tell you that this is no idle comment, she DESPISED yellow. So, yeah, she’s come a long way. :)]
The quilt was queen size and it was my first time making one this size. I don’t think I realised what I was getting into with this pattern that I picked and that I chose flannel to make the quilt with. Flannel is a little stretchy to work with but oh so wonderful to cuddle under on a cold winter Yellowknife night.
Cutting the pieces took forever and I mean forever. My feet and legs were very tired from standing on our tile floors. I had many Ziploc bags labelled with letters and numbers depicting which piece was which.
The quilt was made up of just over 2000 pieces – now that is a lot of pieces. I have since learned of a much easier way to make the Storm at Sea quilt but I was a newbie quilter and figured this was the way to do it.
The quilt pieces ended up going home to Saskatchewan with me on a trip to visit my family. Mom’s sewing machine certainly had a work out while I was there. Mom helped out a lot with pinning pieces together and Dad provided moral support.
When Dad liked something he always said “pretty sharp” and this quilt had his stamp of approval.
The quilt was quilted and the binding put on in time for Elaine’s birthday. I really didn’t want to give it away as the quilt was made with some of my favourite colours and I love flannel. Tom did retrieve it though and I handed it over thinking I will make myself one someday.
That someday still hasn’t arrived but there is always still someday.
Happy Quilting!
