This is my millenium quilt...yes I know it is already 2007. If you are a quilter you understand that sometimes projects get set aside for awhile. I started collecting fabrics for this quilt in 1999. I bought lots of fat quarters as well as swapped fabrics with 3 other quilters who wanted to make a millenium quilt. I think I'm the only one who has completed the project so far.
I designed this quilt myself. I love color and thought it would be wonderful to showcase the colors of the rainbow on the diagonal. I sketched the entire quilt out and colored each rectangle on graph paper. This was crucial to successfully sew all of the rectangles in the right places (I still had to rip a few seams out along the way).
Fabric has changed a lot in the last 8 years. In 1999 and 2000 it was almost impossible to find orange fabrics. Now I see orange and brights everywhere. Most of the fabrics in the quilt were purchased from 1999-2000 but as I worked on the project I added in some additional fabrics. Along the way I had some shoulder problems that prevented me from cutting (and often sewing at all). I paid someone at a quilt store $60 to cut all of the fabric into rectangles. Some would say I spent an outrageous amount on labor, but I never would have completed this quilt without the expense.
I finally had a chunk of time to finish putting the whole top together in summer 2006. I had to wait until this spring (2007) to save enough money to have it machine quilted. I picked it up from the quilter on June 1st and all I have left to do is the binding. You may not be able to see the detail in the picture, but the quilter changed the color of thread to match each color strip of fabric down the quilt.
