Iowa's Wild Rose Quilt

Every quilt has a story. Most quilts made by homemakers is made from scraps of material. In my case, I’ve been using material inherited from my mother as well as my own pieces. The quilts I’m putting together now will be wedding gifts for great nieces and nephews. Sometimes I think I should have started sooner. They have grown up way too fast. This quilt's story is packaged with the quilt as part of the gift. On the back of the quilt is the Made With Loving Care from Fay Risner label and the date embroidered beside it. It was my thought that this quilt and the others might serve as heirlooms for the recipients.

This queen size Iowa Wild Rose quilt pattern was designed by Fay Risner. The wild roses and leaves were hand embroidered by Fay Risner and blocks constructed to match the size of the diamond blocks. This was done in February and March of 2016 while Fay was confined to her recliner due to a foot injury. The wild rose is Iowa's state flower. Years ago, wild roses bloomed alongside the roads and in the ditches. Over time, the roses have disappeared after the ditches were sprayed with weed kill. So if you come across a wild rose bush, stop and take a good look at it. That plant will be gone the next time you pass that way. Or, you can do what I did. Dig that plant up and transplant it into you97-year-olde you can enjoy what is now a rare flower. A forgotten embroidering stitch called twilling is now making a comeback and was used as a frame around the rose blocks. Fay saw the twilling stitch for the first time while at the Rose Festival Quilt show in State Center, Iowa with Kathy Wisecarver in 2017. She googled the stitch on the computer, and practiced it so she could use it to frame the roses. The diamond blocks were made from vintage, fifties and sixties material and passed on to Fay Risner by her 97 year old aunt in Centerville, Iowa who had been given the blocks by a friend. They were constructed in to a twelve inch block by that friend which sped up the sewing on the quilt top. It took Fay Risner three weeks to cut the rose block pieces and sew the quilt top in her spare time in 2016. Working in the evenings while watching television, Fay hand quilted the quilt in two months time - November and December 2017. It took her another week in January 2018 to buttonhole stitch with embroidery thread the butterflies in the diamond blocks. It's Fay's belief, since she loves butterflies, that every flower patterned quilt should have a few butterflies in the design. May this quilt keep you warm and give you fond memories of Fay Risner