No new fabric
I didn’t buy any new fabric for this quilt. I used the fabrics I had. That is how so many fabrics full of memories found their way into it.
Take my old Monchhichi bedding. I had to wait until my early twenties to get it. Every time I asked my grandma for it, my uncle suddenly found it interesting again and wanted to keep it. I had to be persistent for a few years, and in the end I got it.
Then there are a few fabrics from my bed snake, the long, cozy friend that fills the gap between a child’s bed and the wall. My godmother gave it to me when I was in elementary school. My snake slept next to me for years, and I took it with me every time I moved. Later I gave it to my youngest daughter. The fabric is really dear to me, a little worn but still sturdy. I love having it in my Halo now.
Curve by curve
In 2019 the templates were hard to get, so I ordered them from Jen’s online shop in Australia. Acrylic templates make marking and cutting so much easier, so I almost always buy them together with the pattern.
I drew all the shapes on the fabric, cut them out and laid out the blocks in the evenings on my couch. After that, I had to pin all the curves. I used loads of pins, and for weeks I sat surrounded by big stacks of pinned pieces. I carry the pieces to my sewing machine on small boards, and then I chain piece the blocks, one after the other.
I like the simple line these patterns always have: “Make 1048.”
On the design wall
I’m so glad I have a design wall. I put all the blocks up on it and took a few days to move them around until I liked the layout. Then I sewed everything together.
Later that same year, Katrin quilted it. I asked her because my friend Andrea had made a quilt with big dots and had Katrin quilt it. I fell in love right away with those airy, playful quilting designs that look like butterfly wings. Katrin did a wonderful job quilting my Halo.
At the castle
In April and May 2026, my Halo hung alongside a small Scrap Vortex at the castle in Homberg (Ohm), in a group exhibition by Kunstfreunde Wetter, the local art association.