Every Quilt has a Story

Susan
Jul 31
3 min read

I signed up to host a "Thank Goodness it's Finished Friday" party. I have had a UFO on my design wall for awhile. I think I started it last year at some point. It was moved a few times, then folded in half and pinned to the wall out of the way. I decided to finish it. Why did it become a UFO in the first place? I think it was because I had mis-cut the background fabric and I didn't have anything else to replace it AND I had other projects that I had to finish.

Blue Escape is a pattern by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. It features a sailboat on calm waters, which are 2-1/2" strips.

I wanted to make this quilt for a friend of my husband and I. His name is Billy. Back in high school, when I was 16 years old, I started volunteering at my local EMS agency. I took an advanced first aid course at a nearby community EMS agency. Billy was in that class with me and he lived on the other side of the county. After that class was over, I did not see Billy again for several years. Fast forward to 1998, when I met my husband, Rob. He was the pitcher on the EMS softball team and one look from those baby blue eyes and my curiosity grew. Rob told me he had to go to his friend's wedding. His friend's name was Billy and he was a paramedic. Well, it was the same reddish-haired Billy that I had gone to class with. I now lived on the other side of the county. Billy is still a paramedic after almost 40 years. I suspect he will be retiring soon. I always told him that I was going to make him a quilt. Well, next week, when I give him his sail boat quilt, I am sure he will be happy. I forgot a part of the story -- Billy loves sailing and my husband and I, love power boats. Billy used to come on our boat with us every week, before we sold it after 20+ years.

I only needed to complete the top part, but where was that pattern? I could not find it, so I went online to Laundry Basket Quilts website and purchased a Blue Escape download. I finished the sailboat and the sky, then I sewed the top half (sky and sailboat) to the bottom half (water).

That was not difficult at all! What took me so long?! Now I had a quilt top. I quilted "Blue Escape" with Warm and Natural batting, Superior King Tut #963 Angel Teal Light Blue 40 weight cotton thread and the Ahoy edge to edge digital pattern from Urban Elementz. Most of the fabrics were from Andover and Moda.

Here's a tip for you: When you are sewing strips together, I highly recommend using the Strip Stick, when pressing your seams. This helps keep your seams and strips straight. The strip sticks also come in different lengths.

I am working on my binding and I am hoping to gift my quilt to Billy in a few days. I am a stickler about hand sewing my binding, because it's the finishing touches on my quilt. It's like putting a hand made touch to it and I like to hand sew.

Every quilt has a story and this one certainly does!