Gables, a patchwork dream
About a year ago, I was scrolling through some photos of old quilt patterns and found a vintage quilt with a block that had all the things I love: HSTs, tiny nine-patch blocks, and a rail fence. It was the classic Young Man's Fancy (also called Goose in the Pond and probably a million other names) and I knew I wanted to take the classic and make it mine and a smidge more modern.
I was also listening to Anne of Green Gables, narrated by Rachel McAdams (*highly* recommend that version!!) and getting lost in the story and Anne's delightful mischief and spunk and romantic imaginations. Truly, it's a book that I will never tire of listening to. My daughter actually falls asleep to it most nights, so we've got another generation of loving Anne in our midst.
Something about the old classic block also made me think of a gabled roof, and I've always loved seeing the housetop quilts that show up in so many of the Gee's Bend quilts and hearing how they would lay on their backs at night, looking at the ceiling and imagining quilts. And that's what I thought of when I thought of this block, and probably the type of ceiling Anne might gaze up at. So as I was playing with these blocks over the past year, I knew I had to name mine "Gables." It has felt so grounded in so many amazing, strong women and I really cherish making quilts that do that. It reminds me I'm not the first mother to launch her children, nor the first to feel weary at housework.
Anyways, for this cover version I knew I wanted to go bold. I kind of feel like if a pattern can handle bold and soft, it's a good pattern. So bold came first. I headed to my favorite local quilt shop, Stitcher's Garden, and curated my bundle. I took picture after picture and sent them to my artist friend, Sandi Hester, for her color-genius feedback. I finally settled on these nine fabrics with the white and black starry as my accent nine-patch fabric. The granny squares would be my backing and the stripe for binding.
I love how it turned out. It's bold. And I'm not always a bold kind of quilter, but I love it for this one! I can appreciate a good bold, patchwork quilt. But it's definitely not the only version I wanted to make. I also made a yellow and white 2 color and a very sweet FQ version with a low-volume background fabric, and I love both! I can't wait to see which versions other people make, because I have so many running around in my mind I still want to try!
You can find the pattern here.