Silver Anniversary/Courthouse Blues

I am so excited to participate in this year's Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy at Park City Girl .  Please click on the link shown in my sidebar to check out all the wonderful quilts submitted.  Below is my entry into the festival.

The quilt that I chose to share is the one I made last May for my husband to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  I adapted the pattern from Marti Michell's Lodge Look Courthouse Steps in her Log Cabin ABCs, but took the fabric color idea from Courthouse Blues in Jan Bode Smiley's Focus on Batiks.

This was my first attempt at any Log Cabin block, but Marti Michell's rulers made it seem easy.  My husband is an attorney, so the idea of making a Courthouse Steps pattern seemed appropriate.  I liked the color scheme shown in the Focus on Batiks book, so I went with that, hence the name Courthouse Blues.

To tie in the anniversary theme, I chose a silver fabric for the center of the blocks since silver represents 25 years (or so I was told).  Most log cabin blocks I have seen use red for the centers, but I took comfort in the fact that the beautiful quilt shown in the book had a creamy, yellow center.  If you look closely (but not TOO close), you will see the silver thread used for quilting - again, representing twenty-five years of marriage.

The back is pieced from the same fabric - a beautiful blue and green batik to complement the front.  This was before I discovered how cool piecing the back could be.  However, I do like the label.

I typed the label and printed it along with our wedding picture onto a photo fabric sheet.  Oh, to be so young again!!!!  I usually send my special quilts, especially one this large, to a longarm quilter, but I wanted to be able to say I had made the whole quilt myself.

I can't wait to check out all the quilts in this year's festival!!!  Thanks Amy for putting together this amazing event.  Everyone, enjoy!!!!

Rene'