Faith, Folklore, and Friends

One of my latest quilt projects is this one, which I named Out of Africa . Remember, I told you that I wasn't a beige kind of girl.  The quilt is already hanging on the wall; that's why the middle elephant is not exactly flat. I can't remember where I bought the background fabric, but I love it.  I used it in another quilt to represent fire.  I have a stack of small quilts for my as-yet-unborn-great- grandchildren, and I had planned to add this one to the stack.  I loved it so much when it was done, I hung it on the wall. It is one of the first things you see when you come in our front door.  It makes me and others happy when we see it, and that is why I make quilts.

Those of you who know me well know that I'm just not a beige kind of woman. I am not afraid to use red in my quilts.  I don't make many without a little red to liven things up. At antique auctions, I have noticed that the red quilts always sell first and are the most expensive. Apparently, I'm in good company. Yesterday, I finished machine quilting this string quilt with red fabric.  I made the quilt top a couple of years ago by piecing large string blocks, cutting them into half square triangles, and adding the red fabric to complete it. Can you see the windmills?  Which did you see first, the red ones or the scrappy ones? Just curious.  I always see the scrappy ones first.   I wash my red or any bold color fabric before I use it to see if it will fade;  a lesson I learned by experience from my early quilting days.