I can’t believe it is already the end of February 2015! Happy Christmas, Merry Thanksgiving, Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to four of the gals here at Triangles Gone Mad! (Jaime, Hilaree, Jessica and Me (Stephanie)… TIME FLIES!!! We have gone a long time with no blogging and I have gone a long time with even no quilting… Instead there were holidays, birthdays, a funeral, buying a new house, moving, and normal every day life happenings. And now here I am getting back on the horse. 
I always wanted to make a charm quilt (a charm quilt is a quilt where each fabric is different and never repeated). I liked the idea of using hundreds of different fabrics to create something truly unique and never replicable. Because of the sashing and borders this is not a true charm quilt but it was inspired by them. I named this quilt “Charming Chavo” because it’s colorful and festive.
This quilt was a long time coming! I spent YEARS collecting the fabric and MONTHS cutting each piece, WEEKS sewing it together and mere DAYS to quilt and bind it. The closer I got to finishing this charm quilt, the faster and more diligently I wanted to work on it. The pieces came from old fabrics my mother used for our clothing as children, fabrics we had quilts made out of and scraps from my own quilting. I was somewhat un-scrutinizing in the way I selected the different fabrics. If it was colorful or interesting, I would cut a piece and add it to the pile. I just wanted enough to make the quilt. 🙂
Choosing the sashing was a bit of a conundrum for me. I thought since it was such a big part of the quilt that I had to get it right! I imagined it originally with plain white sashing. However, after laying some of the completed blocks onto the sashing material, I realized that it was boring and too predictable, so I found a fabric that I felt gave the quilt my desired vibe. I was hesitant because sometimes a small print on a large area can get crazy, but I think on this one it was a win!
The quilt deets:
485 different fabrics used in this quilt
120 rectangles (each made of 4 fabrics)
1″ finished sashing between each rectangle
Finished quilt measures 60″ X 78″
One accidental repeat of fabric… oops!
Happy Saturday!
Tags: Design your own Quilts, Quilting
Your quilt inspired me so much that I read up on “Charm Quilt” history. In your materials list, you mentioned your “oops” of repeating one fabric. No worries, you were right on. Here is a comment in the history I read: “The other story that has come down over the years about charm quilts is that a mother would make her quilt of different fabrics except for two identical ones. On a large bed quilt it would take a bit of searching to find the matching pair. What a perfect activity for a bored bedridden child recuperating from an illness.”
I think I will start collecting! 🙂