At our family Christmas gathering, I was able to hand over a welcome quilt I had been working on for our gorgeous 5 month old great-nephew, Lachlan. When his great-grandmother, Mary (my sister-in-law's mother) down-sized, much of her patchwork stash was passed on to me, for which I was very grateful. It included some of the most beautiful scraps of liberty fabrics as well as a large assortment of hexagons of different sizes: some single basted to paper, some in flowerettes and a long chain of mostly red flowers joined in a strip. When Lachie was born, I knew I wanted to use these in a quilt, that would therefore be the shared creation of both his great-grandmother and great-aunt.
It took me quite some time to work out how to effectively use the hexagons. I wanted it to be suitable for a boy (despite the florals), and, because I hope it will become a keepsake, I didn't want it to be too babyish, such that he would grow out of it quite quickly. However, I still wanted a childlike naivity. His mother, as a florist, has a very artistic eye, and I hoped that using the vintage hexagons with large areas of neutral, pure linen background in the style of a modern quilt would appeal.
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The quilt reminds me of a small boy's blocks strewn across the floor - some are connected and some large construction is beginning to take shape. I deliberately made the quilting irregular, like doodling, by free-motion quilting around the shapes, rather than using a walking foot and ruler, and the quilting is designed to create a visual connection and reference between the scattered hexagons. The fabric is a real mixture, mostly cotton, with some batik, dress fabrics and linen. My sister-in-law recognised some of the fabrics from her mother's dresses or a cushion cover, which was lovely! To my very inexpert eye they look around late 60's / early 70's, but I would be very grateful for any insights or opinions.
And while Lachie may be too young to really understand the provenance of the quilt, I think he still enjoyed it!
