My dear friends moved away many years ago. Just this past summer, I finished the autograph quilt originally intended as a "Good-bye" gift
before they left. I wanted to mark their move with a heartfelt gift since our friendship dated back to a time before either of us had children. Then, our sons were each others' first playmates. (I'm realizing now that they are teenagers (or nearly)!) The years have flown past far far too quickly .... yet wonderful memories remain strong and one day I will get the photos of those happy days into scrapbooks, I promise!
This quilt is a classic autograph quilt. It began when I pre-made simple blocks (5" square of fine muslin with two 2.5" triangles in opposing corners) and recruited several friends to assist in collecting many many many signatures. This was the initial delay in completing the quilt as I kept stalling, every hopeful that more blocks would land on my doorstep (Note: there are still blocks out there somewhere which I will happily make into a mini-quilt, should the errant blocks find their way to my home....). Fortunately, Jimmy stopped many of the Congregation worker-bees, from the Lead Rabbi, Preschool and Religious School Directors to the secretaries and part-time teachers, insisting they each sign one block. He watched carefully until they did, then added doodles and decorations to make the blocks more colorful. Thank you thank you thank you Jimmy!
Deciding on the arrangement of the blocks was the next delay in completing this gift. I had hoped it would be large, or even huge, but many of the blocks I pre-made never made it back to me. So I needed a new plan, eventually deciding to add the Mogen Davids (6-pointed stars) among the signature blocks, enhancing to the Judaic theme. I purposely set the stars in a random fashion, so admirers must meander around the hand-written sentiments. Did you notice that the fabrics feature either Judaic or Texas wildflower prints?
My good friend Sarah used her free-motion quilting skills to add more hints of Judaica to this quilt. Sadly, I believe I mailed the quilt without taking any photos of the completed piece (my mistake!). I am hopeful that Carol will send a photo of it hanging in her home or tossed on back of the couch or wherever it is, up there in New York, where the seasons do call for the warmth of a quilt, a gift from a friend.
This quilt was truly a joy to make and a greater joy to finish and mail to my friends to treasure in the comfort of their new home, even as long-ago as their departure from Texas was.