Ebb and Flow

For the past six months, this has been a secret, but the big reveal is coming up on the weekend. My cousin C. is getting married next Saturday, and when she announced her engagement in November, we decided to make a quilt. Actually, the "we" was me wondering if we could make a family quilt, and the two sisters below, my mother at the right, and my aunt beside her, who did most of the work. We were hoping to get other family members in on the hand quilting, since the wedding was planned for Nov. 2008, but when she changed the date to May, we revised our plans. Here's the huge quilt hanging at the Barnswallows show a week ago, where it got much attention. It's for a king-sized bed, so our quilters decided on big blocks of 10 inches. We've featured two purple-green-blue batiks in each block, with yellow unifying the quilt. There's at least a dozen different batiks in the quilt, with both of the women above digging into their stash, and yardage only purchased for the yellow and the back. It was beautifully machine quilted by Jacquie Pohl as you can see below.
In the end, my two quiltmaking partners were so quick I was more creative advisor than anything else, although I did work on the label and a few blocks. These two women (the famous quilting aunts, as C. says) are known for their fine hand quilting and applique skills, but as you can see, they've also got a great sense of colour. C. has asked for this to be part of the wedding display, and with the attendants wearing navy and the junior bridesmaids in lilac, it will be a wonderful addition.