Susan’s Nightingale Quilt

 

At the beginning of October, when I was just getting started with the first Nightingale quilt, I sent a photo to my friend Susan in California. It was a Sunday morning, just after lunch at my house in New England.

Less than five minutes later, my phone rang. It was Susan, calling from California.

"OH MY GOD LYNNE!! It's beautiful. I WANT ONE!"

(She says she got my photo and couldn't get to the phone fast enough.)

I told her how to make it, and then wrote the Nightingale tutorial.

Susan helped me proofread the tutorial and beta test it. She went shopping for fabrics with black backgrounds, and then got to work. The photo above is the version she will sew together. We both love it.

Susan has several insights into the Nightingale quilt. She said when she started sewing the blocks together that she began to doubt herself, but she kept going. "The more blocks I put on the wall, the more I liked it." She says it was really easy to make, and laughingly said "I think you could be blind and make this quilt and it will still be successful." She says you have to have faith, and let go of any sense of control over making this quilt. "The fabrics do all the work."

She says she can't believe how beautiful it is. "And it will go anywhere, with anything, and fit in any room. And it's practically foolproof."

It's nice to know I don't have rocks in my head.