Mini Wall Hanging for Mom

Almost two years ago, my mother and step-father moved into a retirement community. They had both been very active in their local library, so I was anxious to see the library in the main building of their new residence. It’s a nice little space, but I wanted to give it the Debby touch. So I offered to make a wall hanging for it.

I’ve been quilting for over 20 years, so I have quite a stash of weird pieces. I only had a space of 18 x 36 inches to fit this into, so I knew I couldn’t make it wider than about a foot. I wanted it to be taller than wider, so I just guessed on where it would look good. No pattern and very little measuring.

My Starting Sketch

My Starting Sketch

I decided to use several different widths for the books and cut strips of the background to match. I made each row about 18 inches wide, so I could shift them back and forth for the best arrangement. After I set them where they looked good, I stitched them together, ironed the heck of of it, and trimmed it down to 12 inches wide.

I ended up adding a few more rows than I drew, because once I started sewing them all together, more just looked better.

I wanted to have the viewer focus on the books, so I did an allover squiggly quilting by machine with the goal of hiding as much of the seam lines as possible. I added a 1/4 binding – smaller than I usually make – and put a 1 1/2 inch hanging tube on the back. Although I didn’t do this in just one weekend, I certainly could have.

As soon as I have a picture of it in its home, I’ll post it here. I’m told it was warmly received.

And here it is hanging in its rightful place.

Carol Merrill, sort of

the lovely Carol Merrill – sort of

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