While vacationing in Pennsylvania in the summer of 1990, we stopped in at "The Quilt Barn" a shop in the country near Gettysburg. There I saw for the first time the stenciled wholecloth quilt tops by Spartex. I didn't fully appreciate how much time would be involved in quilting one, but I purchased one anyway. (Since then I have found other shops here in Nebraska that carried them.)
I found a beautiful deep rose 90 inch fabric and put it together with batting and the queen size top. The sight of those first few hand stitches on the big quilt sandwich was overwhelming and I realized just what I had tackled! But I persevered and finished in about 4 months. A cold water rinse in the washer took out the blue quilting lines and that quilt was gorgeous. It eventually found a home in Louisiana.
Since then I have completed 6 more, different patterns by Spartex. Two of them, one ivory, one white, were done with matching backs (available from Spartex) Another was ivory with a pale green back. Susan (daughter-in-law) chose a lavender fabric to back the one I made for her and Laurie, our other daughter-in-law, chose blue.
I did one more and the back for it is aqua.
Granted these quilts take a l-o-n-g time to quilt but with care they last for years even if used a lot. The fabric is good quality and it is up to the quilter to use good quality batting and backing material. I did quilt with 100% cotton thread and used double binding. Binding fabric comes with the stenciled top if you choose to use it. Also backs that match the stenciled tops can be purchased in one piece also. The stencils are available in ivory or white.
Happy quilting. See you in August!
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