New Project

Although I only work on one project at a time, my brain is always planning ahead. Not just in quilting but even in daily life. My husband laughs because I always have a plan, whether it is simply driving to the grocery store or which step to take next. I am not completely rigid and I certainly change direction if the situation changes but working out how I want my day, my trip, my life to move gives me a certain kind of comfort.

It should come as no surprise that I have already started the next quilt project. I am not like most quilters; I cannot move past an uncompleted project. I don't have UFOs lying around. But I am working now on a graduation present for the young woman who is a rising senior at Harvard. I asked her back at winter break what her favorite colors, flowers, etc. were and whether she liked traditional or modern. She has seen me working on a variety of quilts in the seven years we have known each other and she has had two friends at Harvard take the quiltmaking class that is offered in the Folklore and Mythology department so she knows what each question means or implies.

I have nearly finished the first block of a Baltimore album style quilt for her. The basic block ideas come from a variety of sources but I have altered them slightly to fit my plan. All Baltimore album blocks and quilts had at least some small amount of underlying meaning and many of them were given as tributes to the recipients. Sometimes the sentiments were heroic with war monuments and flags, and sometimes the tributes were more subtle. I don't want to burden this young woman with a bed-sized quilt--the chances of her life being on the move in the future after her undergraduate degree are very good--so I am working on a four block format with border and probably sashing. The blocks are big--16 inches square- -and the finished quilt will be approximately a standard crib size. I am using the classic red and green combination but with printed fabrics not solids except for small areas where I am doing a reverse applique circle to accommodate some handwritten inscriptions suitable for a graduation present.