Quilty Pleasures-Another Finish: Day of the Dead Quilt

Today is All Saints' Day in Western Catholic culture, and connected to this Catholic holy day is Dia de los Muertos which is a day (actually two days) to celebrate, pray for and remember our dearly departed: infants and children today and older family members tomorrow. 

 Families go to cemeteries and put food, toys and other memorabilia on their loved ones' graves. It isn't a morbid time, but time to acknowledge that death is part of the life cycle. The next day, All Souls' Day, is also part of Day of the Dead, so it's a two day celebration.

I love the way the natives in Mexico incorporated their own traditions into the Holy Days the Spanish Catholics were pushing onto them. It's a lot more fun than the basic European version, where we go to church and that's about it.

Why skeletons? Some folks think it's morbid, but those skeletons are the dead coming back to visit for a day with their families still on this mortal coil. They are not to be feared, but friendly family members. Halloween skeletons are scary; these skeletons are not!

The skeletons in my Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) quilt are happy, enjoying each others' company in several ways.

 Sorry, but Ms. Pearl didn't want to move.

The couple in the center of the quilt are flirting a bit, with an onlooker on the right peeking into the frame. The center fabric is Paseo de los Muertos by Alexander Henry. The cow skull fabric is from Luana Rubin's Enchanted Desert collection. I pieced the house roof from scraps.

The surrounding black fabric is another Alexander Henry called Fiesta de los Muertos. When I see this fabric I think of my mom and dad in heaven having a great time. 

I have always been a piecer and much less a quilter, but I am learning a little at a time. Below is a detail of my novice quilting and of a liberated star. I love liberated stars!

So that quilt is almost totally finally finished. I have a lumpy spot in the binding, so will be redoing it to lay flatter. But really, it's done and I am hanging it today to remember my mom and dad on this Day of the Dead.

Quilty Pleasures Wednesday

We are back for another round of "Quilty Pleasures." A friend said that it sounds naughty, but we know that all things quilty are actually quite nice.

I am a big fan of Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston, authors of the books Collaborative Quilting and Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again: Freewheeling Twists on Traditional Quilt Designs.

 Sorry about the writing on the covers, but I really really don't want to lose these books.

Freddy is all about color;that's her in front. Gwen is the go-to person for design.

Although they live far from each other, Freddy in California and Gwen on Beaver Island in Michigan, they find time to collaborate on quilts, traveling to each others' homes to design and sew quilts. If you ever get a chance to take a class from these two, it's a kick!

Anyway, I was bitten by the crazy colors and free piecing that are signature Freddy and Gwen. My latest project is a smaller quilt, around 30" by 24" and it's called Pure Bliss. I apologize for the photos. It's bright sunny here and I am still learning the camera.

I used a central fabric and started building around it, using scraps I had for the house and the borders surrounding it.

The center fabric was fussy cut from a fabric called Paseo de los Muertos. I like how the little guy at the right bottom corner is peeking up at the happy couple.

The black fabric is called Grateful Skeletons and the outer red border is called Petals. I think they are all Alexander Henry fabrics. Now, to quilt it, which I have been saying for several months now.