Signal Quilt – Preserving a Memory
A few years ago my daughter Marian and I took a trip to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Neither of us had been there before, and my brother invited us to join him and his family for spring break. I loved it. Sunrise at the edge of the Atlantic ocean, long walks on the sand, sea birds, and lighthouses. When we got home I decided to make a quilt to preserve the memories as a thank you gift for my brother’s family. This is it. My Signal quilt.
I chose lighthouses as my focus for several reasons. One reason was the memories our kids made together at the Bodie Island lighthouse. To this day, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen my daughter laugh harder. Additionally, I wanted to explore the shape in a quilt. Two of the three lighthouses, Cape Hatteras and Bodie Island, are reflected in the stripes. The other I used to create symmetry in the design.
The colors are all from Art Gallery Pure Solids, (my favorite solids since making this quilt) and they represent my sister-in-law’s favorite beachy colors. I used them to compose a quilt that feels a little bit like a vintage postcard. The checkers remind me of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. I used them as a center line across the middle of the quilt, and then created a “reflection” in the bottom half, a nod to our time on the beach and my love of the ocean.
That cute little diamond strip makes me smile. Also, it pulled the whole quilt together.
As for the quilting, I thought of a windy evening when I was out alone on the bridge, watching the flash of the Hatteras lighthouse from our rental. It was SO DARK, and that signal was beautiful. I stood there in the wind, watching it go off and on in it’s own unique pattern. Appreciation settled deep in me, and I dearly wanted to remember the moment.
Therefore, I decided to quilt my Signal quilt using the light patterns of the two lighthouses. For the top row, and then every “odd” row after that, I quilted the pattern of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. Tall loops represent one second on, short loops one second off, straight lines for 1/2 seconds. Beginning with the second row, and through all even rows after that, is the signal for Bodie Island.
I paused many times to double check my loops, but gratefully I got the signals correct. I suppose it could be an odd quilting pattern. But at least it’s meaningful! I like the way it pulls my eye to figure out what the pattern is.
I completed the quilt with an ombre binding, going from the warm orange to a burnt red. It’s the same red in the middle of the quilt.
Do you label your quilts? I want to get better at it. I couldn’t mail the Signal quilt away without one.
When I finished this quilt, I felt so much gratitude and pride. I’m grateful I could design and make something like this to preserve a memory. THIS is why I quilt. And oh, how I love it!