Me and You and You and Me

"Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help." Alex Haley














I consider this colorful and somewhat haphazard quilt an ode to friendship. Symbolically speaking, all of this fabric was either given to me from good friends, or left over from past gifts for friends. In that spirit it has been named "Me and You and You and Me", from the Turtles' song "Happy Together" (also notice the sweet correlation between the name of the band and the main characters of this particular quilt)!

"Me and You and You and Me" has three characteristics that make it unique compared to my other projects: 1) It's much larger than any of the rest of my quilts (which have been designed with babies in mind). At 56" x 56" this one could certainly be used as bedding for a toddler or child, and could even keep an adult warm on a chilly winter's eve. Heck, you could even use the thing as a picnic blanket! 2) Rather than sewing the pieces together in strips I decided to iron 1/4" under on each side of the squares, and then layer the squares on top of one another, sewing around the edges of each. For this method I used an old table cloth as a base/stabilizer and sewed the entire quilt top to it. In the end it is a heavier quilt that lays very nicely (again, perfect for a cozy winter night). 3) To attach the layers together I decided to use my free-moving quilting foot and sew various sized circles (as opposed to the straight lines I generally use). I'm not a superb drawer, so I took a cup, a bowl and a plate, traced their edges with a chalk pencil, and followed the lines with my machine. I love how these big quilted circles resonate with the various circles and dots represented by the other fabrics used.

I characterize this project as a somewhat-moderately-crazy-quilt. It was a fun and experimental way to reuse some materials, and it will be quite effective as a sturdy and warm blanket. Also, the turtles are just plain adorable.