Meredith and Joan and Julie - a collaborative quilt

I'm not the neatest worker

My friend Meredith lives in Berlin, makes things, has a fine eye, studies German, cooks delicious food, explains colour theory, gets organised. She flew back home to see her dying father, arriving just in time to say goodbye. Afterwards, sorting through the accumulations of a lifetime, she kindly thought of me and brought me a bag of fabrics and cottons belonging to her late mother, Joan. I never met Joan, but I'd heard of her thriftiness and industry. She made all the clothes for her family, taught Meredith to sew at age three, and didn't like to waste a thing. In my bag of goodies were bundles of fabric, carefully rolled up with other fabric scraps that Joan had obviously thought might work well together. Some of the fabric had labels: 'good white shirting';'cesarine or sail cloth, washable easy care'. Some was packaged for charity sale, carefully measured down to the inch.

It was a challenge to see if I could make something from these fabrics that felt true to their heritage - something that wouldn't be out of place in Joan's house perhaps - and that also pleased me. This is what I came up with.

Liberty print backing

'Cesarine or sail cloth'

'Good white shirting'

The only fabric not part of Joan's stash I used was a bit of white from some old shirts of Craig's (I feel that Joan would approve) and some linen for the binding.  It feels like a collaborative effort and will shortly be making its way to Berlin where hopefully it will provide some memories of home, family and friends.