Dear Angela

Day 7 of the quilt challenge - It was really hard to decide which quilt to pick for the last day, but in the end I chose my 'Dear Angela' quilt because this is probably the last of the traditional, hand made bed quilts I'll ever make. Not long after I arrived in Perth I saw a beautiful 'Dear Jane' quilt made by a member of my quilt guild, using Liberty Lawn fabrics. For those that haven't heard about 'Dear Jane' quilts read on... 

"Jane A. Stickle, who was born on April 8, 1817 in Vermont, is the creator. Jane made the quilt during the Civil War, completing it in 1863. It is a sampler quilt, comprised of 169 square 4.5” blocks, each one different. There are also 4 pieced corner triangles, 52 pieced border triangles, and a unique scalloped border. Altogether, there are an astounding total of 5,602 pieces in her quilt!"

As I had quite a collection of liberty fabric I thought it would be a good idea to use it up and make a wall quilt. Little did I know that I would become addicted and that once you start, there's no stopping. Eventually, some of the blocks from the original quilt were too fiddly or downright ugly so I started to adapt or design my own. By the time I got to the outer triangles I designed almost all of them myself, although when I started to run out of ideas (each one must be different) I threw some paper and pencils at friends in my Quirky Quilters group and told them to design a pattern. I used every design they drew for me. Friends also shared or gave me liberty fabric, even the lovely 'Chaucer' ladies, who sent me a parcel from England for my birthday.The quilt was hand pieced/appliqued and hand quilted.

The quilt was finally finished in time for the QuiltWest exhibition in 2015 and was awarded three prizes.

And why did I name the quilt 'Dear Angela'? - In recognition of Angela Davis, who was the maker of the Liberty quilt that inspired me. And there is one surprise in the quilt, a kangaroo block to mark that this is an Australian made quilt.