September Maple Leaves....on the wall!

September seemed to call for a Maple Leaf quilt....especially since I had been eyeing the quilts in the "Unconventional & Unexpected" book  by Kiracofe and found one which intrigued me made in PA by an 'unknown quilter'.....more's the pity for there being no signature. I love the new improv quilts but I also like using well-loved traditional quilt patterns and making my own version of those familiar blocks that have been around forever. It feels fitting and proper to add to the quilt story with one's own humble version of the tried and true....a joining up with the sisterhood!

I chose smaller calico-like prints from my stash and dug deeper into my older fabrics. It's always such a pleasure to place an 'older' fabric in a quilt and give it a reason for being! I took my cues from the inspiration quilt (below) but didn't use any stripes or plaids like this quilt maker did. I also did not add that unexpected strip of  bright red on one side. My blocks seemed to call for a softer green border. My quilt is approximately 51 1/2" x 51 1/2". The inspiration quilt is 65" x 68" and notice how there is binding on three sides but not on the fourth! There is definitely a story with that added strip of red but we'll never know! Ah...the mysteries....

I machine quilted it in horizontal wavy lines and pieced a large maple leaf for the backing.

And I didn't forget the signature!

And now the completion of  this Maple Leaf has me eyeing yet another Maple Leaf quilt in another exciting book full of inspiration:  "Signs and Symbols: African Images in African-American Quilts" by Maude Southwell Wahlman.

And I find myself thinking hmmm......

Thirty blocks pinned on the wall for UANDUQAL

Target reached with the blocks and now on to sewing and the

borders on.

A rough photo here I'm afraid, blocks just roughly pinned on the design wall.

I should be back during the week with a finished top - fingers crossed!

Excuse the very, very short post but I have a visitor just arrived.

Maureen