This quilt took longer (6 months from design to completion) and more time (almost 200 hours) than any other one I have made in a long, long time. About half of that time was spent in the designing, cutting, and laying out phase (with several major revisions along the way).
The inspiration for this wall hanging started with a photo I saw on Pinterest. The idea was to use many same-sized pieces, but to give the effect of the 3D cube by arranging them in a particular way. Each of the colored rectangles is 1" x 1.5". So this is not a true "postage stamp" quilt, where all the pieces are square. But at 1,086 pieces, it does have a similar look.
The background "strips" are made of a variety of blue, gray, green, brown, and red pieces (about 50 different fabrics), alternating with white. The same fabric does not repeat in any given row! Those five colors repeat in groups going across. They are then offset by one in each following row. So looking down the piece you'll see the same blue, gray, green, brown, and red pattern repeated.
The "cube" is made by arranging the purple fabrics (about 20 different ones) in such a way that there appears to be 3 sides. It is all done by having more or fewer purples (and whites) on a given "side". Though these fabrics are randomly arranged, again, the same fabric does not repeat within a row. And it is off-center to add a little extra interest.
As to the title: It has two meanings.
First, the literal one. As noted above, there are many different fabrics in this quilt. Each row is unique. Yet all the pieces in the background are the same size and shape.
Second, a more figurative meaning. This quilt was donated for auction to Hands of Peace at their Spring Benefit. This is an organization that brings together Israeli, Palestinian, and U/S/ teens each summer for two weeks of intensive dialog with the goal of raising the political, social, and self-awarenessof the participants, and ultimately to their involvement and leadership in achieving positive peace. So the title refers to the fact that all people are different, yet, at heart, we are all the same, and that we have more in common than we may realize.
As usual, I chose to do minimal quilting. It is all ditch quilting using clear monofilament thread.
The unusual thing I did this time was to finish it with a facing technique, rather than a traditional binding (A big shout out to my quilting buddy Donna for suggesting this approach).
In most quilts, there is a border. Then, you sew on a strip of fabric to finish the raw edges; that fabric may be the same as the border (so it blends in), a contrasting color, or a fabric used in the quilt top itself.
But this quilt has no border, and adding a thin contrasting binding fabric would unnecessarily draw the eyes away from the main focus of the piece: the cube. So Donna suggested the facing technique. I don't believe I have ever done this before! You basically start the same was as with a traditional binding: sew a small strip of fabric on each of the 4 sides (in this case I chose to use the same fabric as I used on the back). Then, instead of simply flipping rest of the strip over to the back, you actually flip it and roll the full 1/4" sewed part of the top piece with it! Doing this gives you the finished edge you need, but leaves no trace of the facing fabric on the front of the quilt! So the top pattern truly goes edge-to-edge!
Here is a view of the flipped and tacked facing piece on the back. You can also see the ditched quilting lines.
It is said that "quilters lead pieceful lives". Here's hoping that someone will bid on this quilt so that people in the Middle East can also lead peaceful lives.
