Grandmother's Flowers

Label

Our book club read "The Lace Reader" by Brunonia Barry. The story is set in Salem, Massachusetts. Barry gives the reader a glimpse into history while weaving a theme of confused identities into the story. A great aunt who lived in a home full of lace and who loved a garden of flowers has died. The main character, Eva, arrives in her home town at her Great Aunt's home and the story unfolds.  

At the beginning of the book, the author wrote that the aunt hid her house key in a petal of a flower which Eva finds. My grandmother hid her house key next to her favorite rosebush. Thus began the idea for this book club quilt.

Also at the time, our guild had a nine patch challenge. I participated in the challenge. We made six nine patch blocks that measured nine and a half inches. We turned in the nine patches to the challenge coordinator who put the blocks into a brown paper bag. We picked up a bag and made a project with the blocks. We had to use each nine patch block in its entirety.

Quilt back

I spent a long time agonizing over how to use the blocks which I liked. My friend, Martha, suggested that I turn the blocks on point and use them as a background. I made a number of hexagons which I stitched together to resemble flowers. These hexagons finish to about three-quarters of an inch.

Quilt front

I had fun making my bouquet of blooms. I used a batik fabrics to construct the stems and to give the project a 3-D effect, I let the stems extend beyond the bottom edge of the quilt and I let them dangle freely.

Some of the blooms, I machine appliquéd totally to the quilt top. Some of the blooms, I inserted wire into the petals and attached the center of the flower to the top using beads. While I liked the dimension the wire gave to the flowers, it was challenging getting the wire into the petals. 

Close up of the beading details

I tied the stems together with a piece of purple ribbon and tied a key into the stems. The key was one that came with a diary.

I used purple because that was my grandmother's favorite color. I free motion quilted the project with purple thread using pebbles and feathers as the main filler stitches.

I made this project in 2011. It measures 16 1/4 inches wide and 29 3/4 inches tall. It won a second place ribbon in the guild challenge.