TBT: Haven - The Trifecta

Every once in a while I design a quilt that is a trifecta of my favorite things - solid fabrics, over-the-top quilting and a great back story. Haven is that quilt! 

Haven by Jenifer Dick for Everyday Stitches
60 1/2" x 72 1/2"

Antique Inspiration 
The design is inspired from an Amish quilt I saw in a book - American Quilts: The Democratic Art by Robert Shaw. The version in the book is called Lattice Crib Quilt c. 1930. I was drawn to it for its Gee's Bend quality - no discernible plan to it but somehow it's cohesive anyhow - and so darn appealing! I am drawn to chaos, but I just can't seem to translate that into my quilt designs. My designs are ordered and well planned. I think I get that from my dad - nothing less than perfection is acceptable! But I love looking at these old, wonky quilts and drawing inspiration from them even if mine end up looking nothing like the original!

Lattice Crib Quilt c. 1930 from the collection of Faith and Stephen Brown

My version uses the same block but that's where the similarity ends! I dug though my solids looking for color combinations that look good to me. I'm in love with blue right now, so I knew that would be the main color. I chose 3 gradations: light, medium and medium-dark. To offset the calming quality of that much blue, I looked to the opposite side of the color spectrum - to the warm colors. I chose red, orange and two shades of yellow. These warm colors give just the right balance to the cool blue.

Haven is made from just one block - only the color combinations change.

Quilting Makes the Quilt
Haven is totally balanced, meaning there's nothing wonky or "off" about it. That led to the fabulous quilting. It was done by Angela Walters and is a wonderful blend of modern and traditional. I love dense, overdone, over-the-top quilting! Angela's has the unique ability to analyze a quilt top and see quilting patterns that others don't see. She created a medallion look to the open spaces in the center four blocks and repeated the same pattern, only smaller, surrounding that. It creates the illusion that the blue squares are the blocks and the red, orange and yellow stripes are sashing - totally hiding the true block. I love that!

Detail of Angela's wonderful quilting!

The borders are quilted in a feathered design, which has always been one of my favorite quilting patterns. Although not very popular in modern quilting, I still love them and use them whenever it makes sense. Here the curvy, feminine feathers contrast with the rigid, angular shapes of the blocks giving some balance to the quilt.

That Cool Backstory!
And what's the great back story? I was instantly drawn to the Lattice Crib Quilt when I saw it for all its visual qualities, but what really made me fall in love with it is the little detail mentioned in the one-paragraph description: made in Haven, Kansas. That's the small, south central Kansas town, 200 miles from here, where my husband went to high school 30 years ago! What are the odds that this anonymous Amish quilt from a town of 1,200 could find its way to me? That's how Haven got its name - Haven to honor the original and Haven meaning home!

Haven is a easy, fast and fun quilt
to make for your own personal haven!

If you're interested in Making an exact reproduction of my Haven quilt, here are the Kona Cotton solids I used:
Peacock 1282
Torquoise 1376
Bahama Blue 1011
Tomato 7
Tangerine 1370
Papaya 149
Lemon 23

Where Can You Buy Haven?
All Everyday Stitches patterns are available at quality quilt shops, like Modern Makers in Kansas City or online at www.everydaystitches.com

Everyday Stitches produces quality patterns for everyday stitchers. See us on IG @everydaystitches and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/everydaystitches New patterns are coming out soon! 

P.S. Haven was on the cover of the March/April 2013 edition of McCall's Quilting!