And now a tale of Three Quilts

I have a tendency to iterate quilts.

I make a quilt. And then I make it again, tweaking it to improve the end result or just changing it up to satisfy my curiosity. Since I started quilting 25 years ago, I've made more than 40 quilts and at least 15 of those have been repeats.

It's rare I like the first iteration of a quilt better than the subsequent ones. But sometimes it happens, as was the case with this one.

The last few years I've focused on modern quilting. The top photo was the first of three quilts I made from this pattern. I can't really put my finger on the reason it's my favorite. It might be because it's all flannel, and is super soft. But I really like the colors and it's big --  perhaps 6 feet by 4.5 feet. My quilting trademark is that every one I make has a mistake quirk -- a block turned the wrong way, a fabric inside out or a mis-sized block. If you look carefully here you will find it. I've long since stopped being bothered by this -- it's part of the charm of a handmade item.

After this beauty was complete I swore I wasn't going to make it again. But then came a surprise package in the mail from sweet Hayley in London. This girl knows my obsession with Liberty of London fabrics! The Tana Lawn print she sent me was so gorgeous that I actually bought a blouse in the same fabric when I went back to London this spring. The poppy colored flowers on an off-white background are so happy! In fact, I think I might have to wear that blouse today. I only had a meter so I resized the pattern (by hand mind you, a significant feat for someone with my math skills) and used every last bit of the fabric. If you love Liberty, too, a great U.S. source of it is duckadilly.com, conveniently located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Yes, I have a personal relationship with the shop owner and if you're looking for a discontinued Liberty print, the chances are decent that I have some of it in my personal stash.

While I do like V2, I think the pattern better lends itself to multiple fabrics and colors.

Again, I thought I was done with this pattern. I hoped I was done. But then Eldest Daughter had asked me to make her a modern, neutral quilt to take to school. I went to town one more time, in shades of grey, with one pink block representing her. Of course I didn't finish this quilt until this summer, in time for her second year of of college. But I really like it. And she does, too, which was the goal. I can picture her curled up underneath it in bed at school, snow falling, watching Netflix studying. I backed and bound it in grey polka dot fabric, which is a departure from my usual practice of binding a quilt not to compete with the modern design.

Really and truly, I am not making a fourth quilt in this pattern. In fact, I've just put the pattern in the outside recycling bin to be sure.