Winter White

We woke this morning to news that the province of Saskatchewan is expecting 20 - 50 cm of snow this weekend; that's in addition to the 50 cm they got last weekend. Yikes! Not the forecast you want at the end of April, but the thought of snow reminded me of a post that I've been neglecting to share. Winter White is a recent finish by Betty and she has kindly drafted the story of her latest finish for me to share. It's been sitting in my gmail account for several weeks now but I very seldom open it, so I only recently realized that it was there. Sheesh!

Without further ado, here's the story of her latest beauty.

"When I started this quilt a few years ago, little did I know that periwinkle – one of my favourites – would be the 2022 Pantone colour of the year. I just knew I wanted to make these tones pop in a predominantly white quilt.

When Steve and I were married in June of 1984, I made my 'going away' outfit from this lovely periwinkle floral chintz, which I purchased from Riopelle’s on Bank Street, Ottawa. As was the fashion, the top had puffy sleeves and a sailor collar, and the skirt was fully pleated.

Channeling Laura Ashley, I wore this outfit for several years and then stored it away as a memento. Once I realized that my waist was never going to be that size again, I took a ripper to it and salvaged the fabric. There was lots to work with.

At that time, I sewed most of my clothes – it was easier to sew a garment than to buy it off the rack, so I frequented the downtown Ottawa fabric stores often. When the Zeller’s on Sparks Street was closing down I snapped up the tiny floral print in pink, blue and yellow, along with the large pink on white grid that I’ve used for the backing. All quality cottons.

The solid periwinkle was also repurposed from a silk-lined linen top that my sister Dori passed on to me.

The white-on-white prints – a mix of warm and cool – are from my sister Marie, and the delicate batiste is from my friend Nancy. The embroidered entre-deux trim is also from her, a leftover from when we used to do traditional French sewing together.

The tiny checked binding in periwinkle and white came from a dress shirt that belonged to my brother-in-law Charlie, who has excellent taste in clothes and fabric!

As for the pattern, I had never made a medallion quilt before. I did have a pattern for the main block, but not for the quilt top. I just winged it – and am still amazed at how the math turned out. It’s also the only square quilt I’ve ever made.

Pieced and quilted completely by hand, it’s another klepto quilt to add to my collection. I’ve christened it Winter White, a perfect pairing for my all white Mother-of-the-Bride quilt."

What a beautiful combination of warm memories and re-purposed fabrics!....M