Free-Wheeling Single Girl, the quilt and me

I first saw the Single Girl quilt from Denyse Schmidt years ago and knew that someday I’d have to make it.  I’d been single again for a decade already with no intention on re-marrying and while I adore the double-wedding ring pattern (and in fact made one for a wedding gift last year), I knew it wasn’t for me. I needed a Single Girl quilt.

But those templates. Ugh.

Then two years ago Denyse came out with the Free-Wheeling Single Girl quilt pattern that uses paper arc templates to randomly piece together scraps and I was sold. I bought the pattern and, as we are wont to do, stuck in the pattern file and let it age appropriately before pulling it out again.

Back in March, I was up at Sew Expo and on my road trip from Seattle to Portland, I stopped at a few shops including the Ruby Street Quiltworks in Tumwater, WA where I found the Newsprint Gray fabric from the Compositions collection by Basic Grey for Moda. I bought the rest of the bolt. Sorry.

And then, like a good quiltmaker, I let that age on the shelf for a few months.

I figured I’d get around to making it sooner or later, but then my friend Paula said she didn’t think I’d ever actually make a quilt for myself. I’ve been quilting for 25 years and have yet to keep a bed-sized quilt for myself.

Challenge accepted.

A week later I’d cut out all the background pieces. 

Then I knocked out the arcs over the next two weeks, using scraps from a variety of projects as well as some sent by Instagram friends.  Another weekend later and the quarter-circles were ready to get together into full circles. I threw in two empty squares because there are empty bits of me, too. And a silver ring made from a crazy metallic suit jacket that I cut up, adding it because I wear silver rings all the time.

I pieced it together, sent it off to the super talented Karen at Cosmic Quilting down in Laguna Hills and waited a whole three days for her to return it.  Seriously, she turned it around so fast it almost made my head spin! A quick machine binding and it was ready to go for my housewarming party that weekend.

So finally, two decades after making that first quilt, I have a quilt for my own bed. I can’t really explain why it took me so long, though I’m sure it has something to do with being a mom, a woman, and not putting myself first. I’ll dig into that later. But for now, I’m going to enjoy seeing it on my bed and wait patiently for it to cool off enough for me to use it.

If you haven’t used Denyse Schmidt’s patterns before, I’d definitely recommend them. She writes clear and concise pattern instructions, plus gives you leeway in the making that allows you to trim to perfection. Check out her array of patterns here. 

xo,

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