Quilting the Rainbow

Rainbow, by me, 2015, pattern by Lies Bos

On a recent trip to my hometown, my sister and I spent a delightful hour wandering through the Emmitsburg Antique Mall. In addition to trying on vintage hats and concocting our own "ugly decor" reality tv show, we admired many antique quilts. We marvelled at tiny, even stitches, still holding strong a century after patient hands had stitched them. We saw different skill levels on display and pictured women and girls of all ages working, teaching, and learning together. But as I took in the pale colors of each design, I couldn't help but wonder what our quilting mothers and sisters of generations past would have made with the bright, saturated fabrics of today.

Stash of many colors - imagine the possibilities!

I live in color. The walls of my house look like rainbow sherbet, each room a different color: sunshine yellow and straw-gold, tangerine and persimmon orange, burgundy wine and silverberry, periwinkle and azure, celery, apple green, ruby red... My favorite outfits make me look like the pied piper of Hamelin or one of my gypsy ancestors. Color makes me feel alive. It brings me energy and comfort. And since I am still a sixth-grader in my heart, I think there is nothing so beautiful as a rainbow.

A collage of my sherbet walls

Four thousand miles and an ocean away, Dutch quilt designer Lies Bos Varkevisser seems to agree with me. Some months ago, I was on the hunt to find the mother of all rainbow quilt patterns. I found this beauty, "Rainbow," in Lies's online pattern shop. Lies' stunning rainbow includes each color from the Ives Color Wheel, and incorporates color-principles presented in Joen Wolfrom's excellent book Color Play. Measuring 60" x 83", the quilt contains 2200 2" x 2" squares and 44 stars. 

The full Rainbow quilt, with a gladiolus and phlox from my garden in the foreground

After constructing the quilt top, I designed and pieced a backing that contained the same color scheme in an easy, scrappy layout.

Back, Rainbow, 2015

In addition to the rainbow's beauty, its symbolism is important to me. As I worked on this quilt, my son was coming out, marriage equality efforts were in full swing across the United States, and at my workplace we were working to create a climate of greater inclusion for sexual minorities. I began the quilt early in 2015, and, as quilts often do, the top and back waited several months in the "I don't want to baste this" basket. The June 26 SCOTUS ruling in the case Obergefell v. Hodges prompted me to finish the quilt. Simple radiating lines from a bold orange star represent a light that shines into every nook and corner of our variegated life, bringing colors of joy and comfort, warmth and wonder.