Whole-Cloth Quilts - The Superman Edition

"Why cut up a perfectly good piece of fabric just to sew it back together again?" That would be my grandmother speaking. While she was an excellent hand-quilter and her quilts often won blue ribbons at the county fair, she was known to express that very idea. Why cut it up, just to sew it all back together? Many quilters would say that that's half the fun, while others just might agree with grandma.

Here's a whole-cloth quilt I made for some young friends fostering an adorable baby boy. I just couldn't get enthused about piecing it with something else. The dad is a total and complete Superman fan, so when I saw the fabric, I knew it was for him. Um...I mean...for the baby....

Whole-Cloth Quilts are simply two pieces of fabric quilted together. I've made a few of them in the last couple of weeks, and surprisingly, I have really enjoyed them and their end result. Typically, whole-cloth quilts will be quilted with an elaborate pattern. But, since it's just me and my 20 year old Singer machine on my dining room table, I'm sticking to my favorite meandering pattern...

...which, by the way, I love. I think a meandering pattern really emphasizes the crinkles of a quilt after it's washed. Although the right quilting design can really make a pattern come to life, personally, I don't enjoy a lot of fancy quilting. For me, the quilting is just what holds it all together.