My William Morris Quilt is Complete

I’m feeling very happy with the completion of this two year project. In 2012 Barbara Brackman, a renown quilt historian and quilt pattern creator, had a bock-of-the-month series on one of her websites. I participated in the 49 week series which commemorates “The Fight for Women’s Rights”. I decided to use only William Morris fabrics for this quilting project. See my July 18, 2013 posting for more about William Morris.

I started to build my fabric pallet for this quilt with just the few bits of Morris fabrics from my stash. Next, I purchased a great assortment of large pieces of Rose and Hubble (a London fabric line) Morris prints via an on-line auction. Then I added over a dozen more Morris prints purchased in England on two different trips from shops in Scarborough, Hendley on Thames, Penrith, and at the market in York. My English quilt pal, Jan, gifted me with a large scale Morris print that is the major piece for the backing. I even added a few lighter tone prints from a current Barbara Brackman fabric line sold at a local quilt shop. In all, there must be over 40 different William Morris print fabrics in this quilt. It turns out the colors are perfect for our living room.

Every print is busy with designs and details. The key to making the whole array of prints work together is, contrast. There needs to be a good tone and color difference between adjacent pieces so everything does not just mush together, then the pattern of the piece work will be lost in a jumble of like colors. I followed this principle when I added a border around each quilt patch block. I wanted to extend the size of the quilt at the top and bottom, so I added two strips of flying geese.

I am not thrilled with some of the block patterns. But then, they were Barbara’s blocks and I was faithful to use all her block patterns and not substitute. Some patterns where quite intricate and challenging to make, others were a whiz to piece. I kept up with making a block each week. It was fun deciding which fabrics to use in each block.

Linda Rech, a local long arm machine quilter, did the quilting and created a very custom masterpiece. I say that the final creation is a 50-50 joint project. I made the top and she stitched the quilting. Photos do not show the detail of her stitching. Each block’s quilting is different and the borders have foliage and vines. She has enhanced the patchwork top in amazing ways.

I named this quilt, “William Meets Barbara” for the two people it commemorates. The year long journey learning about the women who worked to establish freedoms we enjoy today and my journey of acquiring William Morris fabrics are both treasures for me now reflected in the end product.