(I couldn’t resist, I’m a bit of an Elvis fanatic).
It’s my day to share my version of Rene’s Peace Quilt Pattern!
Rene is one of my Grubers Retreat buddies, she lives in Florida, and spends time in the Montana mountains, where I suspect she travels to just to get awesome quilt photo backdrops. Seriously, though, she is a genuine and generous friend ~ and as it turns out, a pretty good pattern writer!
Rene showed her first Peace Sign quilt in April 2010 when she revealed the finish of Feeling Groovy:
I love how the purple background fabric sets off the spectrum of pinwheel colors!
The pattern is written for three sizes, with the pinwheel blocks adding another design option. I made the Baby size (30″ x 30″) and decided to make my background the stand-out fabric (“Peace Flowers” by Michael Miller), which in turn, makes the aqua blue Kona Cotton peace sign POP! (sorry, we still have Winter grey skies in Iowa, so these are the best photos I could get with my Ott-Lite straining to provide some “sun light”).
I added two borders, the first one a 2 1/2″ border of the background fabric, and a border of aqua blue. The verse is a Walt Whitman quote, I was inspired to add it after seeing this:
Eventually, I think this quilt top needs some utility quilting, perle cotton style; and I know a girl who would love this, so I may add some blocks and make it into a twin size quilt. Stay tuned, it remains to be seen.
The pattern is laid out in vertical strips, and provides very clear, easy-to-follow diagrams for piecing it together. I cut it out and pieced it together in one day.
Rene has generously offered to give a PDF copy of the Peace Quilt Pattern to one of you lovely readers! Just leave me a comment before Friday, February 1st ~ if you were to make a Peace Sign Quilt, what fabrics or colors would you use?
UPDATE: The winner of the pattern is comment #3, MarthaB!
Don’t forget to visit the other blogs celebrating this Pattern Party:
made by a brunnette 
Love your quilt! I would have to make it rainbow colored for sure, with lots of different modern fabrics, like pearl bracelets, Tula pink, Denise Schmidt, etc.
Love it, orange, turquoise, and grey!
Wow. Having the printed fabric as the background is a fun alternative. I would love to win a copy of the pattern.
Doris, how clever to make the background the “fun” fabric and the little squares to be the solid. I love it! And your added border with applique is really fun. I can totally see the relation to your inspiration piece. Very cool. I think your idea of adding more rows/borders to make a twin is a great idea. Can’t wait to see where you go with it!
I was hoping one of the testers would make the background the fun fabric! Looks wonderful!
I’ve been enjoying seeing everyone’s version of this quilt. Thanks for the chance to win one
Doris, how clever to reverse the color palettes. The flower fabric is an unexpected background for the peace symbol. It is a keeper! The Walt Whitman quote is a sweet addition.
I love everyone’s Peace Quilts!!!! How awesome to see you all do it! Beautiful choice and awesome quote. WAY TO GO ON the fabric destashing! 🙂
Love the way you reversed the negative space – I’m so into that!
Absolutely love your twist on Rene’s pattern Doris! The applique makes it perfectly unique and so you.
Wow – I love that you chose the floral for the background and the solids for the peace sign! It sets the pattern off so well and captures something very 60s… 🙂
I love how you did the opposite effect! What a brillant idea and it just sets the mood of what the peace sign is all about. Great job!
Love the pattern and your version! I think I’d use as many colors as possible! thanks for the chance!
Doris, you rocked the peace design! Love the reversal of prints and solids to form the peace sign. The artwork with Walt Whitman’s quote looks identical to your fabric, and to think you already had that in your stash! I love how you really made this quilt yours. Beautiful!!!
I would make a rainbow/color wheel peace sign. I love how you switched up the pattern.
Love your interpretation of the pattern. The appliqué complements your center so nicely!
Doris, this is AMAZING!!! I just love how you made the peace sign out of solids. And the applique! You are so super creative. Definitely my favorite version.
Wow! Another amazingly beautiful version of Peace quilt!!! For me, I would like to try rainbow colors but have no idea what fabrics I want to use exactly. Thanks for the giveaway.
What a fun and beautiful peace quilt!! Love it!!