My Mother's Red Canoe Quilt

In honor of my mom and some of her quilts, I am re-posting this one from 2009.

This is the all-time favorite quilt that my my mom ever made.  After she died, I asked my dad if I could l have it.  Eventually he said yes, and after he looked at it, he said, "I understand why you like this one."

It was a "Seams Like Murder" block-of-the-month class taught at the local quilt shop in Antigo, WI.  I think the story was set in Glacier National Park, but I could not find anything to link to it.  She finished it in 2004--ancient history according to the internet.   In the class, students learned all kinds of new techniques for piecing, color theory, applique and the creative quilting stitches. 

First Posted in 2009

At the Quilt Retreat (aka Quilt Camp) last weekend, the Saturday program was a Show-&-Share of "Our Mother's Quilts." My mother, Holly (along with Aunt Rosita), got me into quilting along about 2004, though she and my Gramma Pickles got me into sewing when I was in 1st grade (I made a bright orange sun-dress with matching yellow jacket--I wonder where that piece of history is now?) My mother made this 9-patch quilt and gave it to me for Christmas in 2001 (or so).

9-patch is one of the simplest quilts to make. For many of us, this is the starter quilt to learn the basics of rotary cutting and strip piecing. When I took my first quilting class a few years later, she packed me off with the means to make a 9-patch for the relatives in Japan.

At Ma's house on the guest bed in The Glacier Room is my favorite quilt made by my mom :

It has a red canoe beached on a woodland shore as the large center block. She made it with her Quilting Connection Group as a block-of-the-month mystery quilt several years ago. Each block is different. She also had it professionally quilted (at great expense) by a talented professional quilter in Green Bay. [Sorry, I don't know her name.] It was so worth it for this quilt!

Detail of thread-painting by my mom, along with the professional quilting.

Detail of the wonderful and creative quilting the machine quilter did on this quilt.

A close-up of one of those flowers.

Here is one of the border blocks. Every one is different ... I never get tired of looking at this quilt--and I always find something new that I hadn't seen before. It's a real treasure!