The Karen Quilt

 

Have you ever made a quilt that you enjoyed making so much that It's almost criminal? This quilt is that, for me.

Custom-made for a friend, I designed this quilt based on interviewing the recipient's husband and best friend-slash-sister-in-law. I thought I knew Karen before I made this quilt for her, but after spending three months making it, I sure do know her well.

This quilt has everything plus the kitchen sink in it. Some blocks are pieced, some are paper-pieced, some are just fabric. One block is from a cloth bag of paprika from Hungary. Some blocks are fussy-cut from Spoonflower fabrics I ordered. 

There's a story behind every block and I won't go into every last detail, but I represented her husband (Groundhog Day), her sister-in-law-slash-best friend (a mountain lion), her hobbies (gardening gloves, a shovel and a No Trespassing sign, and dominos), her favorite places (Disney and Hawaii), her daughters (two hearts), her sisters (a five-part heart), her fur baby (Shelties), her mother (a tea cup) . . . and on and on. You can see what a blast it was to put this quilt together.

And if it's criminal how much enjoyment I got out of making this, it's got to be a federal offense how many scraps I ended up with. 

I took so many pictures while making this quilt, but because it was a surprise and I know Karen sees my quilting projects on Instagram, I had to keep them largely to myself. So I'm excited to finally show off this finished quilt.

Hibiscus

Wildflowers are well represented in this quilt.

Whitman quote that seemed to reflect Karen's sunny disposition

Not quite bed-sized, but it's a good cuddler. 

This block, a five-part heart, represents Karen and her four sisters.

Our Cat loves my quilt photo-shoots. 

The white-water raft block represents the time Karen met her husband.

Blues, greens and yellows worked really well to tie together a variety of colors.

Karen's signature dish is Chicken Paprikash. An imported paprika bag did the trick.

Love the bees, don't you?

A quote I found in selvedge. So perfect for this wildflower girl!

Hated to part with this quilt!

Really hated to part with this quilt!

I asked for pictures of the quilt "in the wild" and got these. Karen's home is the perfect setting for this quilt. 🧡

Looks like someone likes that he's represented on Karen's quilt.

🦆

To learn more about these quilts and Diane's other quilting projects, contact her at diane.fitzpatrick@mac.com. And check out her Instagram page.