Winding Ways

Who would have thought this quilt would wind it's way back to Wellesley.  My 25th college reunion was this summer and I couldn't resist bringing this one along to test it out in the dorms.  A perfect fit:-)

This quilt has certainly taken on a life of its own.  I started it last summer when a good friend of our family who was going off to college mentioned she would appreciate a handmade quilt for her dorm room.  I immediately started dreaming up ideas... I loved the idea of making Denyse Schmidt's Snake Trail quilt from Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration but I knew I didn't want to deal with curved piecing so I came up with my own technique and whipped up a mini as a proof of concept.  With my approach validated I got working.

Her only guidelines were for purple and grey...  not my usual color palette.  I pulled every purple in my stash, bought a bundle, and raided the stashes of a few more violet oriented friends and pulled together enough purples for all the arcs.

This quilt is far from perfect.  There are a few places where I didn't quite catch my arcs when I pieced together the blocks.  I reinforced those raw edges with a zigzag quilt stitch like the roadblocks that sometimes pop up.  I changed up the layout to represent the surprising twists and turns life can take.  Dead ends, endless loops it's a metaphor for life.

This was on display at this year's BostonMQG Quilt Show at Fabric Place Basement but now that the show has closed I can finally get it to it's intended recipient...  just in time for sophomore year.

Blazing my own trail with this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 65" x 97"
Pattern: Inspired by Denyse Schmidt's Snake Trail from Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration
Fabrics: Assorted purple fabrics from stash.  Michael Miller Cotton Couture Fog.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in Grey (2605).