In the eleventh hour, I decided to make a small quilt for my son, to mark the passage of him moving out after graduating high school.

Because of the tight timeline, the design needed to be simple, so I decided on some disappearing 9-patch blocks, and some random/improv patchwork. I used some of the same fabrics that I used in the quilt for Michael Brown. I also used some ice dyed fabrics from in a shop in Paducah, KY, from when we went down to see my quilt in the National Quilt Museum. I usually don’t like ice dyed fabric but I fell in love with these.

I put each of our initials on it (N, L, S, P) to symbolize us going with him, supporting him. I don’t think he noticed but it’s okay. I didn’t want it to be obvious.

Going away quilt for S, 49”x52”, completed August 2021. Final pictures by Mitch Hopper.

This quilt was born from a pile of scraps and patchwork left over from another project. I often make more patchwork than ends up going into a particular piece, and that was the case for this mini quilt I made for a guild swap. Once that mini was finished, I had some blocks left, and I was still really loving the color palette. I decided to keep going. I made some standard nine patch blocks and some disappearing nine patch blocks, just having fun with the scraps and the colors. Finally I gave each block a partial border in varying widths. This quilt gets a lot of use on our couch. It’s a good lap size. Molly Kohler quilted it for me. Mitch Hopper took final pictures. It measures 55”x71”.

Going Away Quilt for S

Disappearing Nine Patch and Leftover Stars