Amy over at AmysCreativeSide.com is hosting the Blogger’s Quilt Festival October 29th – November 5th. This is the second time I’ve participated. Last fall I showed the Blue Applecore quilt I gave my husband. This year I’m entering “Music Lessons” – another quilt I’ve made for my husband.
This quilt started off with a casual purchase “oh, look music fabric” and an innocent remark by my husband. “Wouldn’t it be cool to make a quilt with nothing but music fabric – just a single repeat of each fabric?”
It was the Spring of 2003 and I was still a machine knitter and a want-to-be-quilter. I had quilt patterns and magazines, and a little bit of cotton fabric, but I hadn’t really been bit by the “Quilt Pox’. In fact I purchased my first music FQs the Spring of 2003 in at Silks & More Fine Fabrics – now Appletree Quilting Center in Columbia, Missouri, while I was making arrangements for a statewide gathering of Bond Machine Knitters.
Isn’t it funny how we can remember where we purchased some of our fabric. Or is it just me?
Anyway I showed the fabric to my husband and the comment about a quilt and the idea for a music quilt was born. Although I didn’t like his idea of chunk of fabric – I wanted to piece something.
Over the next five years I began to collect music themed fabric. It was given to me my by my mom and friends. I bought music fabric on-line that I couldn’t find locally. Since I didn’t have a pattern in mind, I kept collecting music themed fabric.
I think this picture was taken after I completed the quilt top.
Then one day while I was surfing the web, I spotted a picture of a quilt with lots of floral fabrics. Each one was different and the “piecing” was done in the sashing and cornerstones. I then had a design for my music fabric.
I started the quilt in September 2008 and finished the top the following April. It would take until the end of the year begin quilting on it. I needed a back!
So, I pieced the back from the “leftover” music fabric.
See that swag fabric in the middle of the back. That’s Andover Fabrics Marching Band by Gail Kessler. I searched the entire metro area for that fabric without success. I found it on-line, but didn’t want to buy a border fabric without seeing it. On the Iowa road trip (13 stores in 3 day) I found the fabric in one of the last stores we visited that weekend.
Music fabric still came into the house after the quilt top was completed. Some of it got worked into the back of the quilt. The top left corner is one piece and the last full square on the third row was a new fabric.
In total there are 168 different fabrics on the front of the quilt. Two different colorways of the same print count as two. I also included a block I printed which has a scan of one of my husband’s original piano pieces on it. The back contains at least three prints which did not make it into the front of the quilt – two were purchased after the top was complete, the third was the swag.
As I was finishing the quilting my husband and I started thinking about what to call the quilt. It had been known as “the music quilt” & “music star”, but I felt the quilt needed a more significant name. We came up with “Music Lessons”.
If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading. Check out other quilters’ favorite quilts over at Blogger’s Quilt Festival.
Your quilt looks amazing and I love your story. And yes, I can always remember where I bought different fabrics, maybe because buying fabrics is such a sensual pleasure! I feel really bad now, as I have made quilts for just about everyone in my family except my husband, and you have made yours two!
Lucky husband! Wonderful quilt!
Wonderful quilt to make for your husabnd. yes I to remember where I bought my fabrics(lol).
Love the inspiration, love the quilt and love that this is a quilt that took time to “develop” but still made it to its destination.
I am sure your husband is honored that you made it for him and enjoys using the quilt.
That’s a wonderful quilt for a musician. Gosh I can sooo relate to all this collecting … I did that for my DH, a former radio operator with the German Marine. All ships and lighthouses and stuff … that one is now a finished top, might be a good one to show next Festival ;-))
Theme fabrics are tricky b/c sometimes they can be really ugly but I don’t really see any uglies sticking out…you have done a great job incorporating all those fabrics. Your quilt caught my eye! It’s beautiful!
The quilt is lovely.
This is a wonderful quilt! So personal…love it!
I sounds like you put tons of work into this! You have a fantastic quilt!
This is really pretty. I don’t think your husband realized that by asking for so many different fabrics in one quilt, he infected you with a bad case of Quilt Pox. Lucky you though, you had instant acceptance of all fabric you brought in the door.
Great story and quilt. Bet your hubbie has a deep understanding of how a “fabric stash” can come about !!!!!
I hope your husband loved his quilt. It looks great.
Wonderful story. Music Lessons is a perfect name.
it looks awesome!!
thanks for the comment on my blog … visit again anytime!
happy weekend to ya 🙂
sewsara.blogspot.com
I love your music quilt! You remind me of me!! I made my daughter a frog quilt several years ago. I bought tons and tons of frog fabric and now still have tons and tons left!
This is a really cool quilt.
What a wonderful story for such a fun quilt.
What a fabulous quilt, and story – I had no idea there was that much music fabric out there! What a wonderful job you did on this.
great story and quilt! themed quilts are so neat to see, especially when no single fabric repeats!
I love this kind of quilt that has so much special meaning. Great job!
This is a great quilt journey from a casual idea–you really ran with it and persevered to a terrific heirloom. Thanks for sharing your quilt’s musical story 🙂
What a wonderful quilt and a great project. Thanks for telling us the whole story. I’ve been collecting bicycle fabrics for my partner for a couple of years now. and yes it’s amazing how you can have a cupboard full of fabric and still remember where you got them.
What an amazing piece of work! The story ought to be set to a folk tune. 🙂
It is great that your husband enjoys your quilting. He is very lucky.
The quilt looks great!
lovely quilt, thanks for sharing it!
What a lucky husband! Very nice:)
My husband is a great supporter of my quilts too- He has helped me when I auditioned fabrics for borders of quilts. I have made him a couple of star quilts because he is an amateur astronomer. Like you I have a big box of star fabrics left after I completed his quilts. I am guessing you will be making more quilts with a musical theme.VBG
Thanks for sharing your wonderful quilting story.
Enjoy the festival.
Regards from Western Canada,
Anna
Your hubby is one lucky guy. What a neat quilt. I could look at it forever.
Love it! I just made a music theme quilt for my step-dad! 🙂
What a nice thing to do for your husband! I’m sure he loves it! It’s terrific!
Who knew you could find so many different music fabrics? Very cool!
A great story for a great quilt – thanks for sharing!
What a great quilt and a great story, thank you for sharing them! I like your pieced cornerstones, they’re fun and a little bit different.
This is a great story for a great quilt! I’m glad you were able to find so many different fabrics for it 🙂
~ Meagan
What a wonderful quilt for your husband!
What a cool quilt! I bet it is fun to sit and just look at all the different fabrics!
What a great design for special fabrics.
i am IMPRESSED!! such a fun idea, the story is great and i’d love to try doing something like that only maybe for me it would be hearts or ladybugs probably. how cool to have included original music your hubby wrote! thanks for sharing and have a great day.
Oh wow! What a wonderful story! And I love the fact that the piecing is in the shashing!
This is such a fun quilt and I think it’s great how collaboratively it developed. Thanks for sharing.
I love collecting music fabric, too, comes with a orchestra conductor husband and a viola-playing daughter. I am a former piano teacher! What a fantastic job you did with all those fabrics!
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