sewnanc

My Grandmother made a Sunshine and Shadow quilt sometime before 1963. As a kid growing up, it was always on my bed. Years later, the fabric is fragile, seams are unstable, and the quilting is breaking here and there. I've repaired rips and replaced a prairie point or two. Finally, I decided that I should replicate Grandma's quilt with a modern twist using batiks instead of solids. I collected all of the colors as close to the original as possible and set to work figuring out a pattern. I used 3" squares in 4x4 patches and one sashing bar between the four quadrants. Without a pattern, I cut small squares to figure out the placement of each color. I made 3 1/2" strips that were 14" long into sets which allowed me to make four identical squares each time, one for each quadrant. There are duplicate squares in the pattern, so you can go faster by cutting those in volume. I'm not sure how Grandma made hers, but I think I've captured the look and feel of her original. If you have a fragile old antique quilt at home, think about making a new version to use again. It is one way to bring the old quilts back to life. The original quilt my grandmother made is pictured below, top-left.