Reproduction of a Reproduction Quilt - Part 1

Hello, Friends!

Today I'm sharing a story

about a quilt I made a long time ago,

relatively speaking...back in 2003...

using reproduction fabrics called

Aunt Grace Through the Year.

I posted about my Aunt Grace quilt here,

and one of my readers contacted me to ask

if I could reproduce my own quilt for her.

She had all of the required fabrics...

she'd saved them with the intent of making her own quilt.

She decided she would love to have me create a new quilt for her, 

just like the one I'd shown on my blog.

I agreed to this arrangement,

because I really loved making this quilt the first time around.

Having those exact prints available

made it easy...no scavenger hunting to find OOP and rare fabrics.

This was an unusual challenge...

I had a few things to overcome, as I made this version.

1.

I didn't have a pattern for my first Aunt Grace quilt!

It took some "trial and error", but

eventually I was able to make my template

for the little Dresden plates,

so that they would finish at the proper size.

2.

My first quilt was hand-quilted...by me.

Initially, we had agreed that I would hand-quilt

this one as well.

Oh, boy...what a difference 13 years makes!

I tried to hand-quilt this, but I seem to have

lost my knack somehow!

I.Could.Not.Do.It.

I looked at the 2003 quilt and could barely

believe that I'd done all of that quilting by hand.

Now, in 2016...I couldn't seem to get that needle through all of the layers,

no matter what tools and needles I tried.

There had to be a solution...

here I was with this nice quilt top,

and it just cried out for me to machine quilt it.

We agreed to this drastic change in plans...

and in practically no time, 
I was finished with the machine quilting.

I have to say that I can't decide which one I love most.

The hand-quilted one is wonderful for sentimental reasons.

It reminds me of a place in my creativity where I used to be...

and will probably not be able to visit again,

except through projects like this one.

I get an equivalent sense of pride from the newer,

machine-quilted one.

Thirteen years ago, I could never have made THIS one.

I'm happy that my friend Kathy reached out to me,

to see if I might travel back in time

to recreate a quilt I've loved for a long time.

It was super sweet of her to let me

put a little bit of 2016 into this reproduction quilt, too!

I plan to put up another post soon,
with some photos of the making of the new version.
I think you'll enjoy them...here's a taste!