This is the newest quilt that I am working on.  This year, I wanted to focus on making the quilts that I was dreaming about making when I was on vacations and buying all the great fabrics that would later remind me of the places that I had visited.  I rarely buy the traditional tourist souvenirs when on vacation.  I now look for fabrics that invoke memories of the place  I am visiting.

My husband and I cruised to Hawaii in the fall of 2010.  While visiting the Islands I collected cotton fabrics that reminded me of the thousands of Hawaiian shirts I saw people wearing.

This is what I have assembled so far on my design wall.  The quilt will be queen size (90″ x 102″) when I am finished.  The pattern calls for cutting 2 of the large 8 in x 8 in squares from 21 different fabrics for a total of 42 squares.  This photo shows the first 21 squares and their sashing.

This pattern is from Terry Atkinson’s line of patterns and is called, Slide Show. My quilt will finish with a border of blue batik with a white hibiscus flower on it.  I searched for a blue fabric the colour of the ocean for the border to remind me of the endless blue ocean we sailed across for 5 days before we came to the Islands.  Five days of sailing on open water with nothing to see but sky and water is worthy of a memory in this quilt!  🙂