A patriotic Picnic quilt

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2 years ago

Sometimes it surprises me how long I have been “working” on a particular quilt. Thanks to cell phone photos and social media posts, I have a pretty good historical record of how many months (or even years) a project has been in progress. Do you find that to be true as well? Once a quilt is finished, I enjoy looking back at initial photos of my fabric pull or progress shots along the way. I am reminded of things I may have forgotten months later . . . like my mindset or reason for being inspired . . . or a weekend I set aside to sew on the project, possibly even with friends. Case in point, my recent finish: a patriotic version of the Picnic quilt pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew.

I bought the pattern several years ago because I thought it was a unique and fun design, different than anything I’d ever made before. I knew someday the right fabric would come along. (It turns out the right fabric was a mash-up of things in my stash!) One year ago in May, after I finished my beachy Stars & Stripes quilt, I posted to social media that I wanted to sew up the Picnic pattern using the same theme and colors. I snapped a photo of this fabric pull atop my Stars & Stripes quilt as inspiration.

One blustery weekend in autumn, I cut all the pieces for the quilt. On a frigid Saturday in January, I began sewing the blocks at a dear friend’s home. (She served us hearty soup for lunch and mimosas for fun. Now that is the way to have a sew day!) And one weekend in late winter, I was able to finish the top. Each step of the way, I have enjoyed making this quilt.

Now a year later, the quilt is complete and I love it! The Picnic pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew comes in SIX size options. I made the Lap size, which finishes at 51” x 68”. While this would make a perfect little lap quilt, as the name suggests, I also like it as a table topper.

As I was photographing the quilt, my husband commented on how pretty it was, and he agreed with me that we really should use it this way. What a festive table setting we could create for a July 4^th holiday gathering! I admitted that I’d have to get over my fear of people spilling and slopping on my precious quilt (ha ha), but as he said, “We’ll just quickly throw it in the wash.” And of course he’s right.

After his comment, I also laid out my navy-blue placements and everyday white dishes. Sure enough, it is the start to a terrific tablescape!

So that will be a goal of mine . . . to let the quilts be quilts. I’m thinking of an Instagram friend who stores two of her beautiful quilts on their pontoon. They are working, boat quilts . . . meant to keep you warm on an evening boat cruise. I need to stop worrying about a quilt getting dirty and just let them be loved and used!

I’m afraid I’ve rambled on about my feelings today, rather than getting to the nitty gritty of this quilt, so I apologize for that. Here’s the fabric scoop: the fat quarters are a variety of prints from Moda designers Brenda Riddle, Sweetwater and Bonnie & Camille. For background and binding I used Moda’s Indigo Chambray. The backing fabric is the red ticking stripe from Sweet Liberty by Brenda Riddle. I have never used a ticking stripe as a backing fabric before, but I think it is fabulous!

The machine quilting was done by (you guessed it) Katy at Woods Edge Quilting. We used a panto called Diagonal Plaid. I love how it mimics the piecing.